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The 25-year-old rose to international fame during the pandemic without ever saying a word in his videos.
LAS VEGAS — Khaby Lame, the globally renowned TikTok star with a massive following, has exited the U.S. following a brief detention by immigration officials in Las Vegas for purportedly exceeding his visa duration.
The influencer, who holds Senegalese-Italian nationality and whose real name is Seringe Khabane Lame, was taken into custody on Friday at Harry Reid International Airport. However, he was permitted to depart the country without a deportation directive, as confirmed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson in a statement.
Lame entered the United States on April 30, and “exceeded his visa’s allowable period,” according to the ICE spokesperson. The Associated Press reached out for comment on Tuesday via the email provided on Lame’s Instagram profile. Lame has not made any public statements regarding his detention.
His detainment and voluntary departure from the U.S. comes amid President Donald Trump’s escalating crackdown on immigration, including raids in Los Angeles that sparked days of protests against ICE, as the president tests the bounds of his executive authority.
A voluntary departure — which was granted to Lame — allows those facing removal from the U.S. to avoid a deportation order on their immigration record, which could prevent them from being allowed back into the U.S. for up to a decade.
The 25-year-old rose to international fame during the pandemic without ever saying a word in his videos, which would show him reacting to absurdly complicated “life hacks.” He has over 162 million followers on TikTok alone.
The Senegal-born influencer moved to Italy when he was an infant with his working class parents and has Italian citizenship.
His internet fame quickly evolved. He signed a multi-year partnership with designer brand Hugo Boss in 2022. In January, he was appointed as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
Last month, he attended the Met Gala in New York City, days after arriving in the U.S.
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