Italy-based Senegalese YouTuber Khaby Lame has become the most followed person on TikTok.
This is after he dethroned Charli D’Amelio, an American social media personality and dancer who until then was the most-followed person on the short-form video platform.
At the moment, Lame, 12, has 142.6 million followers on TikTok while 18-year-old D’Amelio comes second with 142.2 million followers.
He has risen to the top of TikTok in just over two years.
Lame started his TikTok account after losing his job as a factory worker at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and forced to move back in to his parent’s home.
‘The pandemic had just started, and I was bored with a lot of time on my hands so I started making videos on TikTok,’ he said.
His first videos featured himself dancing, watching video games and using the app’s various filters, though he didn’t receive many views.
However, all changed in November 2020 when one of his videos went viral.
In the video, he responded to another user’s needlessly complicated lifehack video by silently demonstrating a simpler solution to the problem.
Khaby Lame PHOTO/COURTESY
With his now-iconic hand gestures and stare of disapproval, Khaby had found a winning formula that eventually gave him worldwide fame.
“I came up with the idea because I was seeing these videos circulating, and I liked the idea of bringing some simplicity to it
“I thought of a way to reach as many people as possible. And the best way was not to speak,” Lame told CNN.
Over time, Lane has met celebrities like the singer Ed Sheeran, footballers Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba and Kylan Mbappe among other professional soccer players.
In 2021 he was invited as a special guest to the Venice Film Festival, walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.
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Also, earlier this year was featured in the Hugo Boss #BeYourOwnBoss campaign after signing a partnership with the fashion line.
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