Italian-Senegalese TikTok star Khaby Lame has been deported from the United States after allegedly overstaying his visa, according to a report by The New York Times.
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that Lame, 25, was detained last Friday at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. In a statement, the agency said the popular content creator entered the country on 30 April but “overstayed the terms of his visa.”
Lame, widely recognised for his silent reactions to absurd “life hack” videos, has grown into a global internet figure, commanding a following of more than 160 million on TikTok. His fame has opened doors to collaborations with luxury fashion brands, a role in a Hollywood production, and his own reality series Khaby Is Coming To America on the Tubi streaming platform.
The deportation incident has stirred intense reaction online, particularly from American conservatives advocating for stricter immigration control. Bo Loudon, a self-described Gen Z Trump supporter and activist, claimed involvement in Lame’s removal.
“Every single illegal alien needs to be DEPORTED. When I found out the biggest TikTok star, Khaby Lame, is an illegal alien evading taxes, I worked with Trump’s ICE to have him removed. He’s since been detained by ICE and removed,” Loudon posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Although Lame has yet to issue a formal response to his deportation, he posted an Instagram story on Monday geotagged in São Paulo, Brazil—his first known location following his exit from the US.
His former legal adviser, Riccardo Lanzo, told The New York Times that the influencer had spent considerable time in the United States recently. However, he admitted uncertainty regarding the current state of Lame’s immigration documentation.
The episode comes at a time when immigration enforcement has regained momentum under the renewed leadership of Donald Trump, who has reinstated several hardline policies targeting undocumented migrants and visa overstays.
While details of Lame’s visa breach remain unclear, the development has raised questions about the treatment of foreign entertainers under US immigration rules, especially as political pressure mounts for stricter compliance.
Born in Senegal and raised in Italy, Lame became a naturalised Italian citizen in 2022. His rise to fame on TikTok began during the COVID-19 pandemic and was marked by wordless skits that poked fun at unnecessarily complicated online trends—earning him widespread appeal across language barriers.
