Khaby Lame has become the most-followed person on TikTok, overtaking Charli D’Amelio with his viral comedy videos. Recent weeks saw fans launch a campaign - led primarily by TikTok user Noah Glenn Carter - under the hashtag #KhabyToNumberOne to push him to the top. With their efforts paying off, Lame now has over 142.7 million followers compared to D’Amelio’s count of 142.3 million.
For some context, the Italian-based TikToker quickly rose to prominence by utilising the app’s duet and stitch feature to silently react to overly complicated “life hacks”. Last year, Lame surpassed Addison Rae as the second most-followed TikToker. Offline, he signed a multi-year partnership with Hugo Boss and dropped a capsule collection that includes a doll of himself.
For years, the influencer space has been dominated by white creators despite Black creators setting trends and shaping online culture. So, it’s interesting to see a Black creator secure the top spot on one of the most popular apps. We hope this success translates into more sponsorships and income for Lame. Especially as only white influencers made Forbes’ 2022 top-earning TikTok creator list despite him being the second-most followed TikToker creator at the time.
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