- The Instagram account of Lil Tay, a 15-year-old internet star, announced her death Wednesday.
- Almost immediately, speculation that it could all be a hoax began to blow up.
- Now TMZ has reported she is alive, and theories about what happened continue to spread.
On Wednesday, a post announcing the death of provocative social media personality Lil Tay, real name Claire Hope, appeared on her verified Instagram account. Almost immediately, online sleuths began casting doubt on the claim, skeptical and wary of the post given Tay and her family's history with online drama.
The original post said that the death of the 15-year-old was "sudden" and that her brother Jason Tian had also died, with both deaths under investigation.
But police departments for Vancouver, British Columbia, where Tay grew up, and Los Angeles, California, where she is known to have been based, told Insider at the time that they did not have reports of investigations into the death of anyone under her name.
Lil Tay's father, Christopher Hope, declined to answer whether his daughter was still alive when contacted by Insider on Wednesday, and Lil Tay's former manager, Harry Tsang, told Insider he could not "definitively confirm or dismiss the legitimacy of the statement issued by the family."
That was perhaps with good reason; The following day, TMZ reported that Lil Tay was "very much still alive," quoting her in a statement that the outlet received from unnamed family members. It said that both Lil Tay and Jason Tian were safe, and that the Instagram account had been "compromised by a 3rd party" and used to spread misinformation about the influencer. The statement went on to say that her account had been The statement has not been otherwise corroborated, but the death announcement Instagram post has been removed from Lil Tay's Instagram account.
(This is not the first time Lil Tay's account has allegedly been hacked. In 2018, Tay, her mother, Angela Tian, and her brother Jason, claimed that her account had been hacked after Tay's verified Instagram account began posting lurid and crude accusations about Tay and Jason's father. Christopher Hope sent Instagram a cease and desist letter in order to have the baseless claims taken down. Angela claimed the account had been hacked, and showed Insider a copy of a police report made reporting the hacker.)
Even before the TMZ report on Tay's newfound aliveness, rumors emerged on TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube suggesting the post could have been a hoax.
Some creators raised concerns by pointing out that Lil Tay's YouTube bio says, "help me." It's unclear when exactly these words were added to her bio, but they appear to have been there since at least June 28, according to screenshots from the internet archive, Wayback Machine. In 2021, she similarly deleted all of her Instagram posts and left one post up that said "help me," too.
Viewers also drew attention to an Instagram account under the handle @_termanii__ that purported to have been written by Lil Tay and her brother Jason, claiming that they are both still alive. An Instagram story said the account owner would go live on Instagram once they reached 25,000 followers.
But following Tay's statement to TMZ on Thursday, the account was deactivated. Insider was unable to reach its owners for comment.
Some users suggested that it could all be part of a "publicity stunt" coordinated for online attention to increase Lil Tay's visibility, as she has been largely offline in recent years.
The same day Tay released a statement to TMZ, an anonymous source released a Lil Tay cryptocurrency, sparking rumors that the death hoax had been carried out to promote the coin.
Since the TMZ report hit the internet, some people are even more confused, wondering why it took 24 hours to debunk the post, what incentive someone could have to hack her Instagram account and announce a fake death, and whether her recent statement could be trusted.
Tay rose to fame as the "youngest flexer of the century," posing with luxury cars and mansions to exude an air of wealth and excess, and often disrespecting the adults around her. A nine, she parlayed her brash YouTube personality into collaborations with industry heavy hitters like Jake Paul and Lil Pump, but many questioned whether her behavior was appropriate — and whether her family was doing what is could to protect her.
The influencer's family has previously been at the center of speculation and controversy after a private conflict between over Tay's brand became public. Tay and her brother Jason have also used their social media to accuse their father of abuse, accusations which he has denied.
When reached by Insider on Wednesday, Lil Tay's father declined to comment regarding speculation her death was a hoax. When reached on Thursday following the TMZ report, he declined to comment further on the situation.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.