TikTok’s most-followed creator Khaby Lame has been granted Italian citizenship, having lived in Italy since he was one year old after his family moved there.
22-year-old Khaby Lame is a comedy creator on TikTok, where he has over 140 million followers. He surpassed the former most-followed creator Charli D’Amelio in June, and he has continued his reign in top spot ever since, much to fans’ delight.
The TikToker was born in Senegal in 2000, but his family moved to Chivasso, Italy when he was just one year old.
Now, after living in the country for 21 years, Khaby has officially been granted Italian citizenship. The star took his oath of citizenship on August 17 in Chivasso.
According to the European Commission, Italian law says that, “those born to non-citizen parents can acquire citizenship if they were born in Italy, have had uninterrupted residence until turning 18, and have submitted a statement of intent within one year of their eighteenth birthday.” However, these regulations continue to prompt debate among critics, due to the number of people who are denied citizenship.
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In a now-deleted tweet from June, Italy’s deputy interior minister, Carlo Sibilia, said: “Dear @KhabyLame, I wanted to let you know that the decree granting you #Italiancitizenship was issued in early June by the Interior Ministry. Soon you will be contacted by the local office notifying you about your oath. Good luck.”
Speaking to reporters about being granted citizenship, Khaby reportedly said that he’s “very proud” and that he feels “a great responsibility for the oath” he took.
He added: “It is not that before, before signing, I didn’t feel Italian, so very little has changed. But now I am officially Italian, on paper.”
Khaby is best known for his hilarious wordless reactions to some of the internet’s most useless life hacks and craziest videos, and he has racked up an astonishing amount of views and likes on his content.
