The Internet Thinks Lil Tay’s Death Is A Hoax

Is Lil Tay alive?

Er, yeah apparently Lil Tay is alive.

In a statement provided to TMZ from Tay’s family, she told TMZ, “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 heartbreaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones all while trying to sort out this mess.”

She explained that “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”.” It’s still kinda fishy that it took the family more than 24 hours to let everyone know she’s alive.

Some sleuths found the family’s supposed announcement enough evidence to make them question the news.

Indeed, former managers of Lil Tay have questioned the legitimacy of the statement in an article published by The Sun. Asking to remain anonymous, the insiders told the tabloid: “One thing I would question is who posted that statement and why isn’t it signed by anyone from the family,” they said. “Why is it not signed, ‘This is Tay’s mom’, or ‘This is the dad of Lil Tay’, or from an official representative? Why is there no attachment? To me, that is a very telltale sign. It doesn’t make sense. Even when you have passings, there’s a group of people that come together to make the statement, usually the family, and we don’t see that here. I send my condolences and I’m shocked by the news. But I’m curious as to who the statement has been released by and [why it hasn’t been signed by anyone.]”

Harry Tsang, another former rep for Tay, told The Sun: “I have been in communication with individuals who have an intimate understanding of the family’s situation,” Tsang wrote in an emailed statement. “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.

This situation calls for cautious consideration and respect for the sensitivities involved. My commitment remains focused on delivering updates that are both reliable and appropriately timed.” They added: “In times like these, it is imperative that we prioritize accuracy and empathy. I encourage everyone to rely on reputable and official sources for information. We must exercise patience while awaiting further developments before drawing any conclusions.”

Meanwhile, MailOnline.com claim they’ve reached out to police departments in Vancouver and Los Angeles, Lil Tay’s place of birth, and Los Angeles, where she had been living with her mother, who say they’ve had no record of Tay or her brother’s death.

Police reports

An officer with the LAPD noted to MailOnline that the lack of records relating to Lil Tay and her brother suggest that “they are not, in fact, dead or that [their deaths] did not occur in LA”.

The officer said: “We have no information on either of these two individuals Claire Hope or Jason Tian being killed or dying in Los Angeles,” he stated. “If the LA county medical examiners has nothing on either of them either, that would lead me to believe they are not, in fact, dead, or that it did not occur in LA.” Similarly, Vancouver police also told The Daily Beast: “As of now, we are not aware and are not investigating.”

Is Lil Tay’s death a hoax?

The family says Tay’s account got hacked in an interview with TMZ on August 10, 2023. She apparently thanked Meta for helping her get her account back and the fake death announcement was removed.

It certainly seemed fishy to a lot of fans. In a lengthy post dissecting Tay’s supposed death announcement, one Redditor theorized that Tay and her brother were preparing for their return to social media after having gone dark of five years during her parents’ custody battle. “[sic]: My theory is she, or more likely her brother, are about to start posting her on IG and this is their way to get as much clout to make a come back,” they wrote.

“The first reason I think this is because he Bday was 2 weeks ago and she turned 15. My guess is this was either an age set by someone or something, possibly whoever is her management, that limited her use on Instagram and now that she’s hit that age she’s able to use it again,” they continued.

“The second reason is the way the notification was written. It said how sad it was that she had passed suddenly and unexpectedly and how she was so lovely and then just mentioned ‘oh yeah her brother died too and that’s sad’ and didn’t even care to mention his name.”

The post concluded: “The third and most damning reason in my opinion, is that the post asks for privacy during this time of mourning. But also posts it on the instagram where she would obviously face tons of ridicule and hate messages celebrating her ‘death’.”

While multiple news outlets, including us here, have reported her death as a fact, the only information anyone can garner is from the Instagram post itself. To another Redditor’s point: “Her mom and dad aren’t confirming anything. There is zero proof, literally, that she or her brother have passed away,” they observed. “Regardless, the whole situation is weird as hell and it’s blatantly obvious that something’s off.”

New social media

Social media accounts kept popping up claiming to be Tay and her brother stating that they’re not dead but were locked out of their social media accounts.

The original account, @termanii, has been taken down but others have shot up in its place, sharing post stories and posts. One post declared:

[Sic]: “TO BE CLEAR I AM NOT DEAD. I DONT HAVE ACCESS ANYMORE TO THE LIL TAY INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT. MY SISTER AND I WERE WINNING OUR CASE. IT WAS JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE WE GOT IT ALL BACK, ALL HER SOCIAL MEDIA AND COME OUT ABOUT THE TRUTH. ME AND TAY ARE NOT DEAD. WE DONT GOT ACCESS TO THE ACCOUNT. OUR PARENTS WANTS US GONE OFF THE INTERNET BUT WE WILL NOT GO AWAY. THIS IS OUR NEW ACCOUNT (FOR NOW) THEY ARE SPREADING MISINFORMATION WE ARE NOT DEAD. THEY’RE THE ONLY ONE THAT GOT ACCESS TO THE ACCOUNT. DO NOT BELIEVE IT OUR PARENTS TOOK EVERYTHING AND THEY ABUSED TAY, HARD. ALL WE ASK IS TO SHARE THIS POST TO YOUR STORY AND FOLLOW THIS ACCOUNT. MORE UPDATES IN A COUPLE HOURS.”

Another post said [Sic]: “Since the end of 2021 me and my brother have been planning on coming back to social media and start streaming we didn’t tell anyone other then our parents and once we did they got mad and called us ignorant because we weren’t going to do the same thing that I was doing when I was 9-10 and they locked us out of every social media we had because they still wouldn’t let us have full access of it thag started a big argument then she got mad and for a few weeks we agreed to live with our grandparents and ever since then they basically cut contact with us so about 4 months ago I texted my mom for the first time in years and we were talking about getting our account back and she agreed at first then switched up randomly and now this happens out of no where I haven’t talked to her since may”.

And before you say anything, yes the fact that they’re asking for followers before announcing their “big news” is suspicious.