Tay Tian who is better known by her social media personality Lil Tay, formerly called Claire Hope, has been confirmed to be alive by her family a day after her “death” was announced directly to her official Instagram account.
It had also been announced that her brother, Justin, had also died – something that Lil Tay has confirmed to also not be true. Claiming that the whole announcement was made due to her Instagram account being hacked.
Lil Tay’s Death Hoax Official Statement
TMZ broke the news today August 10th that they had received a statement from the past social media star, provided to them directly from the family members of Lil Tay. See below for what she had to say.
“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.”
She also told TMS that she spent the whole day being “bombarded with endless heartbreaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones all while trying to sort out” the situation due to her hoaxed “death” being widely reported online.
Says She Was Hacked & Legal Name Change
TMZ also reported, via Lil Tay’s direct statement provided by her family, that her “Instagram account was compromised by a 3rd party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumours regarding me.”
Lil Tay also confirmed with TMZ that her legal name is no longer “Claire Hope” and has now been changed to Tay Tian, the surname being legally changed to her mother Angela Tian’s surname.
“My name was wrong. My legal name is Tay Tian, not “Claire Hope”.”
Despite claims that the account was hacked, Tay confirmed with TMZ that Meta assisted in getting her Instagram account’s access back to her, along with the hoax statement being removed from the verified page.
It’s currently unclear as to why it took Tay and her family 24 hours or so to officially confirm that the fake death announcement was all just a hacked hoax.
TMZ also revealed that they, themselves, had contacted the Vancouver police directly as well as contacted family members who were all “in the dark” about the whole situation, knowing nothing of her alleged passing.
Something that is evidently clear now as to why they were all none the wiser.
Lil Tay’s Deleted Fake “Death” Announcement
As mentioned above, the original Instagram post that was posted directly to Tay’s page has now been removed. The post was a white image with black text that read:
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of our beloved Claire’s sudden and tragic passing. 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. During this time of immense sorrow, we kindly ask for privacy as we grieve this overwhelming loss, as the circumstances surrounding Claire and her brother’s passing are still under investigation.
Claire will forever remain in our hearts, her absence leaving an irreplaceable void that will be felt by all who knew and loved her.”
Deleted Hoaxed Statement via Lil Tay’s Instagram
Who Is Lil Tay?
Lil Tay originally shot to fame in 2017 when posting short viral clips of her showing off how rich she was, by flaunting wads of money while inside expensive houses and beside equally as expensive cars.
The then 9-year-old would often call herself the “World’s Youngest Flexer” and call out fellow online stars such as Danielle Bregoli aka Bhad Bhabie.
However, it was quickly revealed that Tay’s flexing was nothing but a quick gag, not to mention that it was all a facade.
Due to her mother’s ex-boss outing them for using his client’s houses and cars, even with his car being used in one video, it was quickly revealed that Tay’s seemingly rich lifestyle was completely faked for virality.
Something that the majority of her audience most likely knew from the jump.
Sadly, the true reasoning as to why Tay stopped posting online only a year after going viral had nothing to do with confirmation that her wealth was fabricated.
Since 2018, a court case and not very nice custody battle between her parents Angela Tian and Chris Hope was the true cause of Tay leaving fandom behind.
It’s potential that Tay may be planning to come back to the scene one day, however, it doesn’t look like she has made it official quite yet.
