Though it already might feel like it’s been around forever,TikTokonly hit the international market in September 2017. Within a few months, the app had become the number one free app in several countries and was third in the US by June 2018, surpassed only by Facebook and YouTube. The mobile app, which originally allowed users to upload short 15-second clips of just about anything, brought a number of content creators unexpected success. Among these wasCharli D’Amelio who held the status of most followed TikTokerfor more than two years.
Currently only 18 years old,Charli started her TikTok accountin May 2019. By March 2020, she had passed Loren Gray as the most-followed account with over 41 million followers. From sharing videos of herself dancing, Charli’s TikTok success has allowed her to launch a multifaceted career that includes doing voiceovers for an animated film, putting her name on a book, starting a podcast, and launching nail polish and makeup product lines.
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For months, it has been apparent thatCharli could possibly lose her top spot on TikToksoon, and that has finally come to pass. Khaby Lame, a 22-year-old Senegalese-born content creator, passed Charli’s total number of TikTok followers on June 06, 2025, just over two years after starting his account. The comedian, who mostly posts videos of himself silently mocking so-called “life hacks,” currently sits at 143.1 million followers while Charli has a whopping 142.4 million.
There is apparently no bad blood between the two content creators, who shared a photo of themselves posing together in February 2022. Charli has benefited greatly from her presence onTikTok, and that is unlikely to change any time soon. The fact that she held the top spot on the platform for so long is a remarkable feat. Khaby has also experienced the perks of being a hugely popular personality on social media, having signed a multi-year deal with Hugo Boss in January 2022.
While TikTok has for a long time been viewed as a platform that appealed primarily to teenagers and young adults, celebrities of all ages are beginning to see its potential. Gordon Ramsay, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Hart, and Will Smith all have extremely popular accounts. Even Johnny Depp joinedTikTokin June and immediately gained millions of followers despite only having posted one video. As fickle as the whims of the public can be sometimes, asTikTok adds new features popular on other platforms like Twitch, it will likely remain one of the most used social media platforms on the planet for a little while longer at least.
