Lil Tay Not Dead, Claims Instagram Was Hacked

The influencer is alive and well, though she is now struggling to reassure her friends and family.

By Michael Hein

Influencer Lil Tay is still alive despite widespread reports of her death over the past 24 hours. Lil Tay, 14, gave a statement to reporters from TMZ explaining that her Instagram account had been hacked by a third party and that the post about her death was a complete fabrication. Both she and her brother are alive and well – though she is struggling with the fallout from this ordeal.

"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," Lil Tay told TMZ. "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. 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.'"

Lil Tay said that she now has her Instagram account back thanks to help directly from Instagram's parent company Meta. On Wednesday, a statement was posted on her feed claiming to come from her family announcing her death and mentioning that her brother had died as an aside as well. It did not describe the circumstances of her supposed death and it's not clear what the motive for a post like this was.

Lil Tay was a viral sensation in 2017 when she began posting rap music videos online at just 9 years old. She proclaimed herself the "youngest flexer of the century" and made many associated posts showing herself handling large amounts of cash and wearing flashy outfits. She stopped posting abruptly in 2018, reportedly due to conflict within her family. Since then, her music videos have been removed from YouTube and many of her social media posts have been deleted.

Several reports on Wednesday questioned the legitimacy of Lil Tay's death since the local police could not confirm anything in the Instagram statement. However, Lil Tay did not explain why it took 24 hours for her to refute the reports. Since she is no longer active in the public eye in general, it's not clear if there will be more explanation anytime soon. Lil Tay did not indicate any plans to resume using her Instagram account.

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