Inside mysterious ‘loss of life’ of 14-year-old influencer Lil Tay

Way of life

By Dana Kennedy

August 10, 2023 | 9:42pm

She’s alive — however there’s nonetheless a cloud of controversy and tragedy surrounding 14-year-old influencer Lil Tay, whose reported loss of life rocked the web this week.

The social media sensation, who amassed millions of followers with expletive-ridden rants and photographs of her holding wads of money earlier than going silent in 2018 — when she was simply 9 — was alleged to be useless on Wednesday, in response to an announcement on her Instagram account. The submit additionally claimed that her brother Jason Tian, 22, had handed away lately.

“We’ve no phrases to specific the insufferable loss and indescribable ache. This end result was completely sudden and has left us all in shock,” the assertion learn.

Virtually instantly, conspiracy theories took rise on-line as Tay’s alleged ex-manager anonymously told the US Sun that they have been skeptical about why the assertion hadn’t been signed from anybody in Tay’s household — and the kid’s personal father refused to verify or deny the deaths.

On Thursday, the woman also referred to as Claire Hope and Tay Tian surfaced to say it was all a hoax.

“I wish to make it clear that my brother and I are secure and alive, however I’m fully heartbroken and struggling to even discover the correct phrases to say,” Lil Tay told TMZ Thursday by way of a “assertion from her household.”

“It’s been a really traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I used to be bombarded with countless heartbreaking and tearful telephone calls from family members all whereas making an attempt to type out this mess.”

She went on to assert that her long-stagnant Instagram account had been “compromised” and “used to unfold jarring misinformation and rumors relating to me…”

However the brand new assertion did little to assuage fears about Lil Tay’s well being and security, particularly contemplating ominous reviews through the years detailing a bitter custody battle over her and rumors that she was being abused and exploited by relations.

Equally puzzling was her father’s response to a Put up reporter Wednesday. Christopher Hope, an legal professional who lives in Vancouver, simply added gas to the fireplace when he wouldn’t talk about his kids’s purported deaths

“Yeah, you might have the correct individual,” Hope informed The Put up, including: “Sorry, I can’t actually remark or provide you with any assist.”

Deepening the thriller, Rolling Stone reported Thursday that the information coincided with the launch of a Little Tay crypto mission apparently overseen by the woman’s supervisor Harry Tsang. Moreover, Tsang informed Rolling Stone that he didn’t imagine there had been a hack — and that this might be the work of Tay’s brother.

“The actions of Liltay’s brother, famend for his propensity for excessive measures, lead me to hypothesize another motive behind this prevalence,” Tsang informed Rolling Stone. “It’s conceivable that the intention behind these occasions might be rooted in an endeavor to illicitly extract funds from devoted supporters and unwitting bystanders.”

The web site for LilTay Token was taken down after the woman emerged to say she was alive.

Lil Tay grew to become web well-known in 2018 with movies that confirmed the kid trash-talking and flaunting wads of money in luxe settings.

A lot of Lil Tay’s clips consisted of her showing to drag up in an costly automobile equivalent to a Ferrari or Rolls Royce — full with a sunglasses-clad dog in the passenger seat. 

“This is a message to all y’all broke ass haters, y’all ain’t doin’ it like Lil Tay,” she said in one video showing her flashing a stack of cash and getting into an expensive-looking sportscar. “Because of this all you f–king haters hate me. s–t value me $200,000. I’m solely 9 years previous. I ain’t received no license however I nonetheless drive this sportscar, b–ch.”

In 2019, New York magazine summed up the absurd Lil Tay lore: “She grew up ‘broke as hell’ in Atlanta however labored actually onerous ‘shifting bricks.’ Ultimately she received into Harvard after which dropped out. At one level … she claimed to be “partially black.” Now she lives in ‘the hills’ (which of them? She hasn’t specified).”

In actuality, Tay Tian is a bit of woman who lives in Vancouver. Her mom has labored as an actual property dealer and her father is a lawyer. It was Jason, the brother, who reportedly created the Lil Tay character and coached his sister on what to say.

In 2018, a reporter for “Good Morning America” interviewed Lil Tay and her mom, Angela Tian, grilling them about Lil Tay’s vulgarity on display and reviews that her household was profiting off her movies.

“Nobody’s forcing me to do that,” Lil Tay stated as her smiling mom sat subsequent to her. “That’s not true that she [Angela] needs to earn a living off me.”

She rapidly linked with different internet-famous sorts, together with the rapper Bhad Bhabie, made a video with rapper Chief Keef and, in response to the New York journal profile, her household ran by way of a string of managers and didn’t comply with by way of on a six-figure music deal for Tay.

However Lil Tay, who was stated to be home-schooled, stopped posting on her verified Instagram account in June 2018 after simply six months, with massive names weighing in on her “profession.”

Snoop Dogg criticized the kid’s use of the n-word however Bow Wow defended her, saying “she was in all probability simply taking a look at it like a type of leisure. She was simply taking part in a job.”

Movies displaying Tay flashing money in luxurious properties have been reportedly shot inside homes listed by her actual property dealer mom and at the least one of many costly automobiles she was seen in reportedly belonged to her mom’s boss. According to Vice, Angela’s boss said that she resigned from her job earlier than she might be fired.

By 2021, it appeared that Lil Tay’s life had taken a really sinister flip.

Her brother Jason organized a GoFundMe for his youthful sister titled “Save Tay from a Life of Abuse” and outlined a litany of nightmarish accusations.

Hope has beforehand stated of such allegations: “If there’s any abuse [of Lil Tay], it didn’t happen at my home or have something to do with me.”

Jason accused his father and his stepmother Hanee Hope, aka Richanee Alcover, of bodily and mentally abusing Tay and making an attempt to realize custody of her simply to take advantage of and damage her.

The son stated Christopher Hope owed Angela Tian 1000’s in youngster help for the children however refused to pay it, and that he gained 50/50 custody of Tay simply to cut back his funds.

Jason additionally accused Hope of bringing ladies dwelling and having intercourse with them bare whereas Tay slept in the identical mattress. He claimed that Hope gave the woman “issues like moldy bread, moldy hen with little maggots and parasites popping out of it, one-month-old pizza, leftover soggy white bread with ketchup, chilly burnt toast onerous as a rock, and generally solely crackers for lunch.”

The Hopes additionally hit Tay and locked her in a darkish closet at occasions, Jason stated. The GoFundMe web page included photographs of Tay displaying what was stated to be cheek bruises inflicted by her father, moldy meals and a police report filed on Tay’s behalf in Vancouver, amongst different paperwork.

The Put up was unable to achieve Christopher Hope or any members of Tay’s household for touch upon these allegations or different points involving Tay and Jason Thursday.

When Tay’s mother appeared on “Good Morning America,” she offered a portrait of her daughter in contrast to the little woman’s on-line picture.

“She is well-mannered and a fantastic child,” she stated. Requested about Tay’s foul-mouthed movies, Angela stated merely that her daughter “has a ardour. Ardour and a dream.”