Khaby Lame is the most followed TikTok creator in the world with over 148 million followers on the platform. Born in Senegal, Lame moved to Italy when he was little. Even though he has been in Italy since infancy, he had been unable to receive Italian citizenship until now due to strict Italian laws.
Khaby Lame is now Italian on Paper
Lame’s rise to fame on TikTok, especially the title of “Italy’s TikTok king”, drew attention to the fact that Khaby Lame was, in fact, not an Italian. The Italian deputy interior minister, Carlo Sibilia, responded to the issue by tweeting the approval of Khaby Lame’s citizenship application. However, it has been made clear that his rise to fame had nothing to do with the approval of his application.
Sibilia tweeted, “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”
Caro @KhabyLame volevo tranquillizzarti sul fatto che il decreto di concessione della #cittadinanzaitaliana é stato già emanato i primi di giugno dal Ministero dell’Interno. A breve sarai contattato dalle istituzioni locali per la notifica e il giuramento. In bocca al lupo 🇮🇹
— Carlo Sibilia (@carlosibilia) June 24, 2022
According to Italian law, children born in Italy to non-Italian parents can acquire citizenship in their 18th year. This is only possible if they have resided in Italy, uninterrupted for 18 years and have submitted a letter of intent within a year of turning 18.
However, this makes it difficult for others who were raised in Italy but were born elsewhere. Khaby Lame moved to Italy from Senegal. He rose to fame during the pandemic when he posted videos making fun of everyday hacks that were posted on the internet. Lame does not speak in these videos yet they became extremely popular due to the humour content.
The 22-year-old is now Italian on paper, whereas he has always been Italian by heart!
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