On Wednesday, August 9, a statement was released on the Instagram of internet personality and child rapper Lil Tay announcing her untimely death. Just one day later, on Thursday, August 10, TMZ reported that she was actually still alive, and that her Instagram had been hacked.

She became an internet phenomenon in 2017, at nine years old (she was actually 10, but was lying about her age) after posting a series of controversial videos online, which showed her swearing, using the n-word and getting into fights.

In 2018, the self-proclaimed “youngest flexer of the century” disappeared from the internet, with her last post on Instagram being a tribute to her “father figure” and friend XXXTentacion, who was murdered that same year. 

With all the mystery surrounding her, here’s a brief explainer on the life of Lil Tay and what we know about her alleged “death”.

WHO WAS LIL TAY?

Lil Tay, born Clarie Eileen Qi Hope, was a 16-year-old internet personality. In Lil Tay’s own words, she grew up “broke as hell livin the hood in Atlanta”, but one day she woke up and said to herself, “I ain’t gonna be broke no more”, and she got up and started “working hard, moving bricks”. Lil Tay started sharing her Gatsby-esque story on Instagram in late 2017, where videos and pictures of her in luxury vehicles and homes, holding up stacks of money, went viral. She also released generic rap songs, such as “Money Ways”, relating to similar content. In her videos, she repeatedly reminded her viewers that she had more money than they’ll ever make while she posed in houses and cars she did not own. Through this content, she became a spectacle. The fact that she was a nine-year-old girl, acting in a profoundly inappropriate manner for a child her age, made her a more click-worthy figure. 

Her popularity soared in early 2018, when the YouTuber RiceGum, dedicated an entire YouTube video to roasting the nine-year-old. They then went back and forth, and their responses were viewed over 13 million times, according to The Cut. At this time, she amassed 2.4 million followers on Instagram. Lil Tay was known for being involved in internet drama. She was most notably embroiled in the beef between internet personalities Bhad Bharbie and Woah Vicky at Coachella in 2018. Vicky had apparently called Bhad Bhabie’s best friend the n-word, which resulted in them fighting backstage at the festival. At the time, Lil Tay was part of Vicky’s entourage and cheered her on as they fought. Videos of Lil Tay doing this went viral.

At the peak of her popularity in 2018, a three-part documentary was released about her life titled Life With Lil Tay, which aimed to set the record straight around rumours of her being exploited by her family. The show pushed the narrative that Lil Tay was just a highly ambitious child with a mind of her own (red flag, red flag, red flag).

WAS SHE BEING EXPLOITED BY HER FAMILY? 

While her documentary attempted to create a narrative that framed Lil Tay as entirely in control of her image and actions, it was clear from the start that she was repeating what she was told. 

In Lauren Levy’s deep dive on Lil Tay for The Cut from 2019, Levy explains that Lil Tay’s brother Jason Tian was the “genius” behind Lil Tay. After his own failed attempt at becoming internet famous, Tian hatched a plan to coach his little sister into saying and doing all the things he was initially doing online with little success. Her age, gender and racial identity were the exact things that would ensure her rise to fame. Tian also recorded and directed almost all of her content and was described as “domineering” by Business Insider. 

While Tian was exploiting his sister, the exploitation of Lil Tay was a family affair. Days after she learned about Lil Tay’s popularity online, her mother, Angela Tian, took her to LA to pursue her career. Angela told Lil Tay’s father, Chris Hope, that they’d only be gone for a few weeks, but as weeks went by, he never received a straightforward answer about when they’d return. Within that school year (2017-2018), Lil Tay allegedly missed 72 days of school.

WHY DID SHE DISAPPEAR FROM THE INTERNET? 

After months of uploading content on her social media accounts, Lil Tay stopped posting in the summer of 2018. She came in and out of the spotlight during this time, leaving cryptic messages such as “help me” on her Instagram story in June. In October 2018, her Instagram was supposedly hacked with a number of violent, racist images, personal documents and abuse allegations against her father, which he denies. The Instagram post alleged that Chris had filed a court motion in June calling Lil Tay back to Vancouver from LA, which was why she disappeared from the internet. She was at the centre of custody battles between her parents. 

Harry Tsang, Chris’ spokesperson (and Lil Tay’s former manager), told The Daily Beast that Chris never wanted money from his daughter. “There are only three things he wants to see: First, no more crazy videos of cursing from Tay. Second, 25 per cent 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.” In this same interview with The Daily Beast, Lil Tay ominously told them that she was in a “bad situation” and that bad situation, she remarked, was with her dad. “He was threatening to arrest — to have my mom arrested if we didn’t go back [to Vancouver]. It’s obvious he just came back because he wants money.”

IS SHE ACTUALLY DEAD? 

Apparently not. On Thursday, August 10, TMZ reported that Lil Tay was still alive, and that the original announcement had been the result of an Instagram hacking. In a statement shared with TMZ, the rapper allegedly said that she wanted 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 traumatising 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 continued: “My Instagram account was compromised by a third 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.’”

Hours after the original announcement, Lil Tay’s father told Insider that he could not confirm whether his daughter had died. Tsang also told Insider that the situation called for “cautious consideration”, and he, too, could not confirm or deny the news. Law enforcement agencies in Vancouver and Los Angeles also told Insider that there were no active death investigations involving Lil Tay. 

Many on the internet speculate that this is just another publicity stunt pulled by her family for clout, but whatever the truth is: both realities are unfortunate and extremely worrying. 

This story is still developing. 

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