Social media personality Lil Tay addresses false death rumors, alleges hacking of Instagram account

UNITED STATES: Lil Tay, a social media personality, confirmed she is not dead. She asserts that her Instagram account faced unauthorized access, resulting in the dissemination of false information regarding both her and her brother’s death.

Tay’s family, in a statement given to TMZ, informs the news outlet, “I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say. It’s been a very traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I was bombarded with endless heart-breaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones all while trying to sort out this mess.”

“My Instagram account was compromised by a 3^rd 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,” she added, explaining the situation on her end.

On 9 August, her “family” reportedly announced Lil Tay’s supposed death through a statement. It also stated that her older brother, Jason Tian, had passed away at the age of 21. However, the exact timing of his death was not clarified.

A statement about Lil Tay’s death was posted on Instagram, but it has been deleted since then.

Amid the hacking incident, an account under the handle (@_termaniii) alleged to be Lil Tay, had informed people of her well-being, highlighting that her account had fallen victim to unauthorized access.

Within the comments section, a user identifying as Jason Tian, Lil Tay’s brother, mentioned that they are still alive, refuting the false reports of their death.

Nonetheless, due to persistent hacking, Lil Tay found it necessary to repeatedly create new accounts after each prior one was compromised again.

The account @termanii_ was the last one created after she successfully regained control of her official Instagram account.

Across all her preceding accounts, she consistently indicated her intention to conduct a live session in the near future, where she would explain the situation to her audience.

Previously, upon being contacted for a statement, Christopher Hope (Lil Tay’s father) expressed his inability to provide commentary on the Instagram post.

He chose not to respond to inquiries regarding his daughter’s current status.

In a similar vein, Harry Tsang, the former manager of Lil Tay, noted the need for careful assessment of the situation and stated his inability to verify or refute the news.

Furthermore, on Wednesday, TMZ reached out to both local law enforcement in the Vancouver area and family members who were completely unaware and uninformed about her reported passing.