Charli D’amelio Is No Longer the Most-Followed TikTok User in the World — This is Who Dethroned Her
It’s a big day in the world of TikTok — perfume-hawking, teen dancing sensation Charli D’Amelio is no longer the most-followed person on TikTok.
The newly 18-year-old social media star currently boasts over 142.5M followers on the video app, having garnered her huge online audience in the past few years. Charli posted her first TikTok video on March 30th, 2019, and within a couple of months, the dancer found herself steadily increasing in popularity (and net worth). Charli D’Amelio is one of the most recognizable names from the social media app, along with others like Dixie D’Amelio, Noah Beck, Bryce Hall, and Addison Rae.
But there’s a new cool kid in town, and no, he doesn’t dance to W.A.P. — his name is Khabane "Khaby" Lame and he just beat Charli’s follower count by amassing 143.4M followers.
Khabane is 22 years old and was born in Senegal before moving to Italy, where he currently lives. He was working as a machine operative after high school in Turin, Italy, but was laid off in March 2020. Lame spoke to Forbes about his story, saying, "the pandemic had just started, and I was bored with a lot of time on my hands so I started making videos on TikTok."
If you've watched any of Khabane's TikToks, you'll know that the comedic creator doesn't talk at all. Instead, Khabane employs a signature video style where he reacts to ridiculous TikTok videos with the app's duet and stitch features. Khabane's stare of disapproval and trademark hand gestures say it all, and the creator's funny videos have resonated with fans who were quick to flood his comments with live updates on when his follower count would surpass Charli D'Amelio's.
"Who else is hyped than he is about to pass Charlie 😌" commented one user; "THE NEW KING OF TIK TOK," declared another. Even the official Slim Jim's TikTok account got in on the action, reporting, " Bro you’re 69,420 away right this second."
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Khabane has been gaining three million followers per month, compared to Charli's one million per month. Khabane started his TikTok account during the same month that Charli was crowned the most-followed TikTok user, making his rise to fame all the more impressive.
Khabane recently signed a multi-year partnership with fashion brand BOSS after walking in their runway show in September 2021 and releasing a capsule collection with the brand that includes a doll of himself. “When I was a kid I had an action figure of Vegeta from Dragon Ball and I’ve been collecting action figures for years. I’m really passionate about action figures and anime characters. And now to see that there is a doll of myself and there will be an event to launch it along with the collection… I’m super excited," he tells Vogue.
Congrats, Khaby! ✨
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