Apparently Lil Tay & Her Brother Aren’t Dead But They Are ‘Heartbroken’

Did Lil Tay’s brother die?

Did Lil Tay’s brother die? No, Lil Tay and her brother are not dead, according to TMZ.

In a statement provided to TMZ from Tay’s family, she tells 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 also says, “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”.”

Her brother’s presence on social media is unknown. Lil Tay’s last post before the announcement was a tribute post to rapper XXXTentacion. “X you truly changed me ❤️ you were there for me when everyone wanted me to fail, you were there to give me advice, you were there,” she captioned. “As a father figure, when I don’t have one, you were here, FaceTiming me and calling me for hours when I’m down, 3 hours ago you announced the Charity event we were going to throw, we had everything setup, I can’t believe this, the evil in the world, This isn’t good Bye
I Love you Bro ❤️💔😔😢❤️”

Who is Jason Tian?

Who is Jason Tian? Jason Tian is Lil Tay’s older half-brother. According to The Cut, the mastermind behind Lil Tay’s success as reported in a 2019 feature. We don’t know if Jason is the brother who died as no details of the brother’s identity were revealed in Lil Tay’s death announcement.

The Cut reported that Jason would coach his little sister to say the vulgar scripts on camera. “According to many of the managers Lil Tay temporarily worked with in L.A., Jason wrote Lil Tay’s lines and coached her on how to say them; Tay was a natural actress and an eager participant,” The Cut wrote. Jason was also active on YouTube as Rycie who would post diss raps on Youtubers who had more followers than him.

Who are Lil Tay’s parents?

In 2019, Lil Tay’s social media accounts became inactive after a custody battle between Hope’s mother Angela Tian and father Chris Hope. A real estate agent, Angela Tian was reportedly forced to resign when she was found to have used empty houses for Lil Tay’s videos.

“My daughter is hurting and she is angry. I regret that I was unable to stop all the negative things from happening to her,” Chris Hope said in a statement Hollywood Life. “I am heartbroken about what has happened, not only to her, but also to my other family members, due to past events and now, due to the lies and harassment that were posted on Instagram. I don’t know if the Instagram was hacked or not; all I know is that the person or people controlling the Instagram did things that are crimes in Canada and in California, and we will see what happens with that.”

“When my daughter’s social media began to go viral this year, I disagreed with most of the social media activity, the statement continued. “I took legal steps to stop things which I felt were dangerous to her physical and mental health and to her future,” Chris explained. “I do not think a 10-year-old girl should be put in those situations and made to drop out of school so that she can make money for other people.” 

“Everyone else involved in this situation is motivated by money and the possibility of making money off of my daughter. I am not fighting about money; I am fighting for my daughter – for her happiness and her future,” Chris revealed. “My daughter wants to pursue acting and singing, and I support her 100 percent in following her dreams. I think she was given bad advice about many things earlier this year, and she was steered in the wrong direction by various people. I hope my daughter is able to follow a path that will make her happy, keep her safe, and allow her to grow up into the amazing person I know she is.”

A GoFundMe was created by Jason Tian in 2021 alleging that Chris Hope and his wife Hanee Hope had physically and mentally abused her. The GoFundMe raised $17,000.