Khaby Lame, the Senegal-born comedian and the world’s most followed TikTok user, has obtained Italian citizenship, according to multiple Italian sources. The 22-year-old has lived in Italy since he was one and said he “always felt Italian”. He received his citizenship at a ceremony held Wednesday in Chivasso, his hometown near Turin in the Piedmont region.
Khaby Lame turned to TikTok after losing his factory job when Italy went into lockdown early in the Covid-19 pandemic. He’s garnered nearly 148.5 million followers to date with his videos, in which he taunts viral content with a mime worthy of Marceau, his signature angry expression.
” Very proud “
Italy’s Interior Ministry announced his new citizenship on June 8, weeks before he overtook American social media star Charli D’Amelio to be crowned “King of TikTok.”
The international star, who kept his Senegalese passport, told reporters he was “very proud” of his citizenship and felt “great responsibility for the oath I took.” The move comes amid a long-running political debate in the Transalpine Peninsula over whether to grant citizenship at birth to children born in Italy to foreign parents, regardless of their parents’ nationality, in a bid to align Italy with other European countries. Currently, as in France, children born in Italy to foreign parents can only apply from the age of 18.