Lil Tay is very much alive, claiming her death announcement Wednesday was the result of a hacked Instagram account.
“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,” the 14-year-old social media influencer told TMZ Thursday.
“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.”
Tay went on, “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.'”
A statement announcing the young star’s “unexpected” death — as well as her older brother Jason Tian’s — was shared via her official Instagram page Wednesday morning.
“We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribably pain. This outcome was entirely unexpected, and has left us all in shock,” the statement read.
“Her bother’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.”
The statement concluded, “Claire will forever remain in our hearts, her absence leaving an irreplaceable void that will be felt by all who knew and loved her.”
Tay hadn’t been active on Instagram since June 2018, around the time she was caught in the middle of a nasty custody battle between her parents, Angela Tian and Christopher “Chris” Hope.
Hope refused to confirm his daughter’s passing when contacted by The Post Wednesday afternoon.
“Yeah, you have the right person, but I don’t have any comment right now,” the Vancouver attorney said during the brief call.
“I’m not able to give you any comment right now. I’m sorry — I can’t.”
At the time of Tay’s death announcement, her YouTube bio read, “help me,” though it’s unclear when the cryptic message was added to the page.
Many invested sleuths interpreted the words to be a reference to the abuse Tay allegedly experienced at the hands of both her father and her stepmother, Hanee Hope.
In April 2021, Jason created a GoFundMe titled “Save Tay From a Life of Abuse,” which included images of his little sister with red marks and bruises all over her face.
“Tay will be on trial in the BC Supreme Court of Canada up against her absentee father Chris Hope, who along with his wife Hanee Hope (previously known as Richanee Alcover), had physically and mentally abused her,” Jason alleged on the site.
“Chris Hope is fighting to permanently gain control of her career as well as custody over her. My sister Tay has been silent on social media for the past 3 years because her absentee father (Chris Hope) served my mother a court order demanding control over Tay’s money, career, and custody, and as a result it was court ordered that my sister had to return to Vancouver, Canada.”
Aside from the alleged physical abuse and mismanagement of funds, Jason also claimed that Chris sent Tay to school with “moldy bread, moldy chicken with little maggots and parasites coming out of it, one month old pizza, leftover soggy white bread with ketchup, cold burnt toast hard as a rock, and sometimes only crackers” for lunch.
Tay herself made similar claims in a December 2018 interview with the Daily Beast alongside her mom.
“Right now I’m in a bad situation and I don’t want to talk about these things,” Tay said at the time. When asked to elaborate on “the situation,” she replied, “With Chris Hope.”
However, a rep for Chris denied the allegations at the time and told the outlet in response, “There are only three things he wants to see. First, no more crazy videos of cursing from Tay. Second, 25 percent of the gross earnings going to a trust fund dedicated to Tay. The third thing is, there has to be structure in her operation, in her public image.”
Tay skyrocketed to infamy at the age of 9 by starring in viral videos that showed her rapping about being “the youngest flexer in the century” and “above the haters” while flaunting cash and luxury goods.
