Top TikToker Khaby Lame briefly detained by U.S. immigration

TikTok star Khaby Lame poses for a photograph after being named UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 in Dakar, Senegal. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)

U.S. immigration agents detained and later allowed the “voluntary departure” of the world’s most-followed TikToker, Khaby Lame, after he “overstayed” his visa, authorities said Saturday.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Seringe Khabane Lame, 25, a citizen of Italy, June 6, at the Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada for immigration violations,” the agency said in a statement to AFP.

Lame entered the United States on April 30 and “overstayed the terms of his visa,” the statement said of the Friday detention, adding that he was released the same day.

The Italian national, who is a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and has a following of more than 162 million on TikTok, “has since departed the U.S.”

Lame had not immediately posted publicly about the incident as of Saturday afternoon.

Since taking power in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has delivered on campaign promises to tighten immigration controls and carry out a mass deportation drive -- aspects of which have been challenged in U.S. courts.

Lame holds top spot on the wildly popular TikTok social media app, with 162.2 million followers and has risen to fame for his short silent videos mocking the convoluted tutorials and tips that abound on the internet.

He punctuates his videos with a trademark gesture -- palms turned towards the sky, accompanied by a knowing smile and wide eyes -- as he offers his own simple remedies.

The idea for his content came to him while wandering around the housing project where his family lived in Chivasso, near Turin, after losing his factory mechanic’s job in March 2020.

His posts took off -- helping him gross an estimated $16.5 million through marketing deals with companies in the period between June 2022 and September 2023, according to Forbes.