Popular TikTok star Khaby Lame leaves the U.S. after being detained by ICE
Khaby Lame, the world's most popular TikTok personality with millions of followers, has left the U.S. after being detained by immigration agents in Las Vegas for allegedly overstaying his visa.
The Senegalese-Italian influencer, whose legal name is Seringe Khabane Lame, was detained Friday at Harry Reid International Airport but was allowed to leave the country without a deportation order, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed in a statement.
Lame arrived in the U.S. on April 30 and 'overstayed the terms of his visa,' the ICE spokesperson said. The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment Tuesday to the email address listed on Lame's Instagram account. He has not publicly commented on his detainment.
His detainment and voluntary departure from the U.S. comes amid President Donald Trump's escalating crackdown on immigration, including raids in Los Angeles that sparked days of protests against ICE, as the president tests the bounds of his executive authority.
A voluntary departure – which was granted to Lame – allows those facing removal from the U.S. to avoid a deportation order on their immigration record, which could prevent them from being allowed back into the U.S. for up to a decade.
The 25-year-old rose to international fame during the pandemic without ever saying a word in his videos, which would show him reacting to absurdly complicated 'life hacks.' He has over 162 million followers on TikTok alone.
The Senegal-born influencer moved to Italy when he was an infant with his working class parents and has Italian citizenship.
His internet fame quickly evolved. He signed a multi-year partnership with designer brand Hugo Boss in 2022. In January, he was appointed as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
Last month, he attended the Met Gala in New York City, days after arriving in the U.S.
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By mid-decade, Murry Wilson had been displaced and Brian, who had been running the band's recording sessions almost from the start, was in charge, making the Beach Boys the rare group of the time to work without an outside producer. Their breakthrough came in early 1963 with 'Surfin' USA,' so closely modeled on Berry's 'Sweet Little Sixteen' that Berry successfully sued to get a songwriting credit. It was their first Top 10 hit and a boast to the nation: 'If everybody had an ocean / across the USA / then everybody'd be surfin,' / like Cali-for-nye-ay.' From 1963-66, they were rarely off the charts, hitting No. 1 with 'I Get Around' and 'Help Me, Rhonda' and narrowly missing with 'California Girls' and 'Fun, Fun, Fun.' For television appearances, they wore candy-striped shirts and grinned as they mimed their latest hit, with a hot rod or surfboard nearby. Their music echoed private differences. Wilson often contrasted his own bright falsetto with Love's nasal, deadpan tenor. 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By the mid-1960s, the Beach Boys were being held up as the country's answer to the Beatles, a friendly game embraced by each group, transporting pop music to the level of 'art' and leaving Wilson a broken man. The Beach Boys vs. The Beatles The Beatles opened with 'Rubber Soul,' released in late 1965 and their first studio album made without the distractions of movies or touring. It was immediately praised as a major advance, the lyrics far more personal and the music far more subtle and sophisticated than such earlier hits as 'She Loves You' and 'A Hard Day's Night.' Wilson would recall getting high and listening to the record for the first time, promising himself he would not only keep up with the British band, but top them. Wilson worked for months on what became 'Pet Sounds,' and months on the single 'Good Vibrations.' He hired an outside lyricist, Tony Asher, and used various studios, with dozens of musicians and instruments ranging from violins to bongos to the harpsichord. The air seemed to cool on some tracks and the mood turn reflective, autumnal. From 'I Know There's an Answer' to 'You Still Believe in Me,' many of the songs were ballads, reveries, brushstrokes of melody, culminating in the sonic wonders of 'Good Vibrations,' a psychedelic montage that at times sounded as if recorded in outer space. The results were momentous, yet disappointing. 'Good Vibrations' was the group's first million-seller and 'Pet Sounds,' which included the hits 'Sloop John B' and 'Wouldn't It Be Nice,' awed McCartney, John Lennon and Eric Clapton among others. Widely regarded as a new kind of rock LP, it was more suited to headphones than to the radio, a 'concept' album in which individual songs built to a unified experience, so elaborately crafted in the studio that 'Pet Sounds' couldn't be replicated live with the technology of the time. Wilson was likened not just to the Beatles, but to Mozart and George Gershwin, whose 'Rhapsody in Blue' had inspired him since childhood. But the album didn't chart as highly as previous Beach Boys releases and was treated indifferently by the U.S. record label, Capitol. The Beatles, meanwhile, were absorbing lessons from the Beach Boys and teaching some in return. 'Revolver' and 'Sgt. Pepper,' the Beatles' next two albums, drew upon the Beach Boys' vocal tapestries and melodic bass lines and even upon the animal sounds from the title track of 'Pet Sounds.' The Beatles' epic 'A Day in the Life' reconfirmed the British band as kings of the pop world and 'Sgt. Pepper' as the album to beat. All eyes turned to Wilson and his intended masterpiece -- a 'teenage symphony to God' he called 'Smile.' It was a whimsical cycle of songs on nature and American folklore written with lyricist Van Dyke Parks. The production bordered on method acting; for a song about fire, Wilson wore a fire helmet in the studio. The other Beach Boys were confused, and strained to work with him. A shaken Wilson delayed 'Smile,' then canceled it. Remnants, including the songs 'Heroes and Villains' and 'Wind Chimes' were re-recorded and issued in September 1967 on 'Smiley Smile,' dismissed by Carl Wilson as a 'bunt instead of a grand slam.' The stripped down 'Wild Honey,' released three months later, became a critical favorite but didn't restore the band's reputation. The Beach Boys soon descended into an oldies act, out of touch with the radical '60s, and Wilson withdrew into seclusion. Years of struggle, and late life validation Addicted to drugs and psychologically helpless, sometimes idling in a sandbox he had built in his living room, Wilson didn't fully produce another Beach Boys record for years. Their biggest hit of the 1970s was a greatest hits album, 'Endless Summer,' that also helped reestablish them as popular concert performers. Although well enough in the 21st century to miraculously finish 'Smile' and tour and record again, Wilson had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and baffled interviewers with brief and disjointed answers. Among the stranger episodes of Wilson's life was his relationship with Dr. Eugene Landy, a psychotherapist accused of holding a Svengali-like power over him. A 1991 lawsuit from Wilson's family blocked Landy from Wilson's personal and business affairs. His first marriage, to singer Marilyn Rovell, ended in divorce and he became estranged from daughters Carnie and Wendy, who would help form the pop trio Wilson Phillips. His life stabilized in 1995 with his marriage to Melinda Ledbetter, who gave birth to two more daughters, Daria and Delanie. He also reconciled with Carnie and Wendy and they sang together on the 1997 album 'The Wilsons.' (Melinda Ledbetter died in 2024.) In 1992, Brian Wilson eventually won a $10 million out-of-court settlement for lost songwriting royalties. But that victory and his 1991 autobiography, 'Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story,' set off other lawsuits that tore apart the musical family. Carl Wilson and other relatives believed the book was essentially Landy's version of Brian's life and questioned whether Brian had even read it. Their mother, Audree Wilson, unsuccessfully sued publisher HarperCollins because the book said she passively watched as her husband beat Brian as a child. Love successfully sued Brian Wilson, saying he was unfairly deprived of royalties after contributing lyrics to dozens of songs. He would eventually gain ownership of the band's name. The Beach Boys still released an occasional hit single: 'Kokomo,' made without Wilson, hit No. 1 in 1988. Wilson, meanwhile, released such solo albums as 'Brian Wilson' and 'Gettin' In Over My Head,' with cameos by McCartney and Clapton among others. He also completed a pair of albums for the Walt Disney label -- a collection of Gershwin songs and music from Disney movies. In 2012, surviving members of the Beach Boys reunited for a 50th anniversary album, which quickly hit the Top 10 before the group again bickered and separated. Wilson won just two competitive Grammys, for the solo instrumental 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow' and for 'The Smile Sessions' box set. Otherwise, his honors ranged from a Grammy lifetime achievement prize to a tribute at the Kennedy Center to induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2018, he returned to his old high school in Hawthorne and witnessed the literal rewriting of his past: The principal erased an 'F' he had been given in music and awarded him an 'A.'
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Trump booed and cheered at the Kennedy Center while attending ‘Les Miserables'
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Hannah Watkins, a nurse, only learned that Trump would be there when the Kennedy Center distributed information about extra security and she searched online to see what was happening. 'I've seen a lot of famous people so far, which is exciting,' said Watkins, who had claimed a spot near the VIP entrance with her mother. 'Honestly, we just like `Les Mis' and are excited to be here.' However, when the lights went down and the show began, there were empty seats in the balconies and even in the orchestra section. Before Trump, presidential involvement in the Kennedy Center's affairs had been limited to naming members to the board of trustees and attending the taping of its annual honors program in the fall. But after returning to office in January, Trump stunned the arts world by firing the Kennedy Center's longtime director and board and replacing them with loyalists, who then named him as chairman. Trump promised to overhaul its programming, management and even appearance as part of an effort to put his stamp on the national arts scene. His latest moves have upset some of the center's patrons and performers. In March, the audience booed the Vances after they slipped into upper-level seats to hear the National Symphony Orchestra. Trump appointed Usha Vance to the Kennedy Center board along with Bondi, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Fox News Channel hosts Maria Bartiromo and Laura Ingraham, among other supporters. Sales of subscription packages are said to have declined since Trump's takeover, and several touring productions, including 'Hamilton,' have canceled planned runs at the center. Actor Issa Rae and musician Rhiannon Giddens scrapped scheduled appearances, and Kennedy Center consultants including musician Ben Folds and singer Renee Fleming resigned. Understudies may have performed in some roles Wednesday night because of boycotts by 'Les Miserables' cast members, but Trump said he wasn't bothered by anyone skipping the performance. 'I couldn't care less,' he said. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has adopted a more aggressive posture toward the arts. The White House has taken steps to cancel millions of dollars in previously awarded federal humanities grants to arts and culture groups, and Trump's budget blueprint proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Trump has also targeted Smithsonian museums by signing executive orders to restrict their funding and by attempting to fire the director of the National Portrait Gallery. Trump characterized previous programming at the Kennedy Center as 'out of control with rampant political propaganda' and said it featured 'some very inappropriate shows,' including a 'Marxist anti-police performance' and 'lesbian-only Shakespeare.' The Kennedy Center, which is supported by government money and private donations, opened in 1971 and for decades has been seen as an apolitical celebration of the arts. It was first conceived in the late 1950s during the administration of Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, who backed a bill from the Democratic-led Congress calling for a National Culture Center. In the early 1960s, Democratic President John F. Kennedy launched a fundraising initiative, and his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed into law a 1964 bill renaming the project the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Kennedy had been assassinated the year before. Associated Press writer Mark Kennedy in New York and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report. Darlene Superville, Associated Press
