An Instagram put up claiming that viral little one star Lil Tay and her brother died has been taken down.
The put up, attributed to her household, was revealed Wednesday morning and rapidly trended on social media as folks shared their sorrow. The rapper would solely have been 14, and the put up mysteriously referred to the deaths as nonetheless being underneath investigation.
However as of Thursday, TMZ was reporting that the put up was a hoax.
“I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive,” Lil Tay stated in a press release supplied to TMZ by her household. “My Instagram account was compromised by a 3rd party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumors regarding me, to the point that even my name was wrong. My legal name is Tay Tian, not ‘Claire Hope.’”
A number of police companies instructed HuffPost that that they had no information of the woman’s loss of life or any investigation. Her dad and mom didn’t reply to repeated requests for remark; her father, Chris Hope, declined to touch upon Wednesday to the New York Publish in a short telephone dialog.
Lil Tay, who has thousands and thousands of followers on social media, and her mom had claimed previously that her Instagram account had been hacked, and there have been a number of earlier stories that third events had entry to it. But numerous media shops reported on Wednesday’s put up, which was made on a verified account, as if it have been genuine.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of our beloved Claire’s sudden and tragic passing,” the now-deleted put up stated, referring to Lil Tay. “We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain. This outcome was entirely unexpected and has left us all in shock. Her brother’s passing adds an even more unimaginable depth to our grief.”
It continued, “Claire will forever remain in our hearts, her absence leaving an irreplaceable void that will be felt by all who knew and loved her.”
Hours after the put up, Harry Tsang, Lil Tay’s former supervisor, instructed HuffPost in a press release that he couldn’t affirm or deny whether or not it was correct. He had been in contact with “individuals who have an intimate understanding of the family’s situation,” he stated.
“Given the complexities of the current circumstances, I am at a point where I cannot definitively confirm or dismiss the legitimacy of the statement issued by the family,” Tsang stated. “This situation calls for cautious consideration and respect for the sensitivities involved.”
The Instagram put up on Lil Tay’s account requested for privateness because the household grieved, including that the circumstances surrounding Lil Tay and her brother’s “passing” have been nonetheless being investigated.
As of 2020, Lil Tay was dwelling in Vancouver, Canada, whereas a custody dispute between her dad and mom over how her profession must be managed made its manner by way of the courts, TMZ reported.
But, in an e-mail to HuffPost on Wednesday, the Vancouver Police Division stated they haven’t gotten stories of Lil Tay or her brother’s loss of life and are usually not investigating.
A spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Burnaby division instructed HuffPost that they “are aware of the information circulating on-line,” however “do not have a current investigation in relation to this matter.”
Authorities in Los Angeles, the place Lil Tay and her household spent a while as her profession was taking off, equally instructed HuffPost that that they had no details about her loss of life.
Lil Tay rose to web stardom in 2017 as a belligerent and foul-mouthed 9-year-old, calling herself “the youngest flexer of the century” in movies the place she confidently confirmed off mansions and luxurious automobiles.
She went silent a yr later after a video unfold of her older brother, Jason Tian, supposedly feeding her traces, elevating questions on how her household was influencing and profiting off her web persona.
In July 2018, her Instagram account posted “Help Me,” main her followers to consider she was at risk.
Quickly after, her Instagram account made a number of posts about her father, accusing him of abuse with the hashtag #FreeLilTay. A consultant later stated she had been hacked, and her father has repeatedly denied the allegations. Tsang instructed the Every day Beast in 2018 that the abuse accusations have been false and had been a part of a plot by Lil Tay’s mom and brother.
In 2021, Saveliltay.com, a fundraiser to allegedly assist finance Lil Tay’s authorized charges, was created. The fundraiser, arrange underneath Jason Tian’s title, once more made a number of accusations that Lil Tay’s father bodily and mentally abused the younger web star and exploited her fame for revenue.
In a follow-up assertion on Thursday, Tsang instructed HuffPost he was relieved that Lil Tay was secure, however believed her Instagram account was by no means hacked.
“Firstly, the restoration of a compromised account on platforms like Meta/Instagram typically does not necessitate a 24-hour timeframe,” Tsang stated in an e-mail. “Secondly, the actions of Liltay’s brother, renowned for his propensity for extreme measures, lead me to hypothesize an alternative motive behind this occurrence.”
Tsang stated it was “conceivable” that the intention behind the Instagram put up was to “illicitly extract funds from devoted supporters and unwitting bystanders.”
“Simultaneously, if the underlying motive is indeed to rekindle Liltay’s prominence within the public sphere, I contend that such actions demonstrate a certain degree of irresponsibility,” Tsang stated.
HuffPost reporter Paige Skinner contributed to this story.
