Lil Tay has come forward to confirm that reports of her death have been greatly exaggerated.
In a statement provided to TMZ, the viral rap sensation made clear that previous reports of her death were false. What’s more, the 14-year-old also confirmed that her brother — who was previously thought to have perished alongside her — was also okay.
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“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,” she said. “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.”
She continued: “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’.”
The revelation by Lil Tay also raised more questions than answers, despite the confirmation that she was, indeed, alive.
On Wednesday (August 9), Lil Tay’s father Christopher Hope reportedly told Business Insider that he “could not comment on the Instagram post and declined to answer whether his daughter was still alive.”
He also told the New York Post: “Yeah, you have the right person, but I don’t have any comment right now. I’m not able to give you any comment right now. I’m sorry — I can’t.”
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Lil Tay’s former manager, Henry Tsang, also couldn’t confirm whether she and her brother had died.
“I have been in communication with individuals who have an intimate understanding of the family’s situation,” Tsang told The Daily Beast. “Given the complexities of the current circumstances, I am at a point where I cannot definitively confirm or dismiss the legitimacy of the statement issued by the family.”
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Her social media manager, Duane Laventure, claimed he couldn’t comment on the situation either under instruction from Lil Tay’s mother. The rapper’s legal contact, Victor K. Sapphire, also declined to speak.
Lil Tay’s death was first reported on Instagram on Wednesday (August 9), in a statement that has now been deleted.
