Hachemi and the HMI Tour in Lyon: What Happened and Since

On 26 December 2024, the Lyon stop of the “HMI Tour” by French Snapchat star Hachemi Sabi, known as HMI, was banned by the local authorities. Hundreds of young fans turned up anyway near Place Bellecour, police used tear gas, and the influencer called off his visit. He has since become France’s most-followed Snapchatter, with about 13 million subscribers in September 2026. Here is what happened, step by step, and what the episode teaches any creator who wants to bring their community together, whether they have 1,000 or a million Snapchat followers.

Who is Hachemi, aka HMI?

Hachemi Sabi was born in November 1995 in Marseille, according to French marketing magazine Stratégies. He holds a master’s-level degree in computer science and worked as an engineer before breaking through on Snapchat with travel and comedy videos. The French site Les Gens d’Internet dates his real take-off to a big Instagram giveaway in November 2023.

By late 2024, at the time of the HMI Tour, he had more than 7 million Snapchat subscribers, 1.2 million Instagram followers (@hachemisb), 460,000 on TikTok and 209,000 on YouTube, according to French public broadcaster France 3. His flagship format is the “HMI House”: around fifteen creators living in a villa for several weeks, challenges filmed and posted as stories, and €50,000 for the winner. The first season took place in Dubai in summer 2024.

French urban culture outlet Booska-P summed up the phenomenon in February 2025:

@booska_p

Hachemi, la HMI House… on en entend parler PARTOUT sur les réseaux alors on t’explique c’est que c’est véritablement ! 🎥 @Opaphilo

♬ son original – Booska-P

What was the HMI Tour?

In December 2024, Hachemi launched the HMI Tour: a bus tour of several cities to meet his followers and hand out gifts, €100,000 worth in total. The whole idea relied on surprise. The exact location of each stop was only revealed at the last minute on his accounts.

On paper, it is a simple and very effective engagement idea. One story announcement, a meeting point dropped at the last minute, and thousands of teenagers moving at the same time. In practice, that is exactly what caused the trouble.

What happened in Lille and Brussels?

The tour started in Lille, where the influx of fans disrupted traffic and forced police to step in, France 3 reported. On 23 December 2024, the Brussels stop went further: nearly 1,000 young people gathered, stones were thrown at the influencer’s bus and windows were smashed. According to France 3, some attendees provoked the police and threatened vandalism.

Those two stops weighed heavily on what came next. When the Rhône prefecture justified its ban, it explicitly cited the disorder in Lille and Brussels.

Why was the Lyon stop banned?

Hachemi had announced a “giant hide-and-seek” in Lyon on 26 December 2024 at 5 pm, with YouTuber Ibra TV, and prizes to win. That same day, the prefect of the Rhône, Fabienne Buccio, the state’s representative in the area, signed an order banning any undeclared gathering linked to the HMI Tour across all of Lyon’s districts, citing significant risks to public order.

Fans came anyway. The number depends on the source: about 400 according to France 3, 6,000 according to Hachemi himself, a figure reported by local news site Lyon Capitale. France 3 describes crowd surges near the Guillotière bridge, firecrackers thrown at police and riot police responding with tear gas, with traffic jammed around Place Bellecour.

Late in the afternoon, Hachemi called off his visit. On his accounts, he asked fans to go home “without drawing attention to themselves”.

Why did these gatherings get out of hand?

Three things added up. First, the secret location: when thousands of people get the same information at the same moment, they all head for a spot nobody has prepared. No barriers, no stewards, no transport planning.

Second, no declaration. In France, a gathering on the public highway has to be declared to the town hall or prefecture in advance. That is how authorities plan for safety. An event announced in a story a few hours before falls outside that framework, and the only option left to the prefecture is to ban it.

Third, the age of the audience. A large share of Snapchat users are teenagers, some of whom came alone during the Christmas holidays. Add the promise of gifts and the chance to see a star, and the crowd becomes hard to manage.

What is Hachemi doing in 2026?

The Lyon episode did not slow him down. On 7 February 2025, with 9.4 million subscribers, he overtook fellow Snapchatter Nasdas to become the most-followed Snapchat creator in France, according to Les Gens d’Internet. The HMI House carried on: a second season in Thailand in January and February 2025, then a third in Marrakech, launched on 20 August 2025.

On 27 September 2025, he sold out La Seine Musicale, a major concert venue near Paris, with a three-hour show built around HMI House clashes. This time the event was indoors, with tickets, set times and security. French daily 20 Minutes covered the night:

@20minutesfrance

En deux ans, Hachemi, alias HMI, a transformé Snapchat en plateau géant avec sa HMI House.

♬ son original – 20 Minutes – 20 Minutes

In September 2026, his main Snapchat account (@hachemi95) shows about 13 million subscribers.

How to hold a fan meetup without it going wrong

The contrast between Lyon and La Seine Musicale sums up the lesson. If you want to meet your community, even on a small scale, here is the order to follow:

1. Pick a private venue: a hall, a bar, a partner shop. The venue handles access and capacity.
2. Cap the numbers: sign-ups or tickets, even free ones. You know how many people are coming.
3. Declare it if it is outdoors: in France and many other countries, a gathering on public ground has to be declared to local authorities beforehand.
4. Announce the place early: secrecy builds buzz, but also a rush. A known location lets everyone plan.
5. Plan the end: finish time, transport, adults present for the youngest fans.

Meetups are still a great way to bond a community. For them to fill up, you need an active audience beforehand: stories that get watched, followers who react. If your account is just starting, Snapchat views on your announcement stories can give a first signal of popularity.