Barely five months after TikTok’s owners credited Donald Trump with saving it, the president is now making a public show of deporting the world’s most followed TikToker.
Last Friday, Khaby Lame—who has over 160 million TikTok followers, becoming the app’s most followed content creator since 2022—was detained by ICE in Las Vegas. Lame was born in Senegal and has lived in Italy since he was 1, where he became a citizen in 2022. According to a statement from ICE, he had entered the US legally on April 30 but had outstayed his visa.
Related
“This isn’t the end of the legal road — or the fight for free expression in Florida.”
“Lame was granted voluntary departure June 6 and has since departed the US,” a spokesperson said, per NPR.
Your internet debrief
Stay ahead of the most scandalous, hilarious, and mind-boggling internet content delivered directly to your inbox.
ICE reportedly acted on information from teenage far right activist Bo Loudon. On X, Loudon characterized Lame as “far left” (Lame’s videos are not political) and of having “evaded taxes” (Loudon offered no evidence for this claim).
In an interview with streamer Dylan Page, Loudon said that he found out about the expired visa through some friends Lame had worked with. “I just called some buddies in the administration,” Loudon said, according to the New York Times. “And I’ve never seen anything happen so quick.” Good to know that the American government is at the beck and call of an eighteen-year-old.
Lame did rise to prominence through a kind of activism—that of taking aim at those obnoxious life hack videos. His content typically consists of him replying to some overly complicated life hack demonstration by showing a much simpler way of accomplishing the exact thing.
Part of what makes his videos so popular is the way he communicates solely in gestures and facial expressions. Not only does his silence reach across borders, it’s almost like he’s too annoyed for speech. His frustration is relatable, palpable and hilarious.
Recently, Lame has branched outside of TikTok. He appeared as a cameo in the Italian version of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and served as a cosmetic skin in the battle royale video game Fortnite. Last year, Lame starred in his own Tubi TV series, Khaby Is Coming to America, which documented his exploration of American city life and culture. Now Trump has made it clear that even the world’s most loveable TikTok star is no longer welcome in America.
Sign up for the INTO newsletter and get your twice-weekly dose of stories that shape the queer experience, culture, and lifestyle.
