Khaby Lame, the Senegalese-born comedian who is the most followed TikTok user in the world, has obtained Italian citizenship, according to several Italian sources.
The 22-year-old has lived in Italy since the age of one and said he "always felt Italian".
He received his citizenship at a ceremony held Wednesday in Chivasso, his hometown, near Turin, in the Piedmont region.
Khaby Lame turned to TikTok after losing his factory job when Italy went into lockdown at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He has so far attracted nearly 148.5 million followers with his videos in which he pokes fun at viral content with mimicry worthy of mime Marceau, his characteristic exasperated expression.
" Very proud "
The Italian Interior Ministry notified him of his new citizenship on June 8, weeks before he overtook American social media star Charli D'Amelio to be crowned "King of TikTok".
The international star, who kept his Senegalese passport, told reporters he was "very proud" of his citizenship and felt "great responsibility for the oath I took".
The move comes amid a long-running political debate in the Transalpine Peninsula over whether to grant citizenship at birth to children born in Italy to foreign parents, regardless of their parents' nationality, in order to align the Italy on other European countries.
Currently, children born in Italy to foreign parents can only apply from the age of 18, as in France.