Lil Tay's Dad Denies Claim He Was Behind Death Hoax

Lil Tay's father, Christopher Hope, has vehemently denied any involvement in the death hoax that garnered attention in August, implicating him as the mastermind behind it. A recent post on the 14-year-old rapper's Instagram Story accused Hope of orchestrating the hoax and labeled him as abusive, racist, misogynistic, and a woman-beater. However, Hope has refuted these allegations, warning that anyone spreading these false claims may face a defamation lawsuit. He stated, "Every statement in that post is entirely untrue, and I believe that this should be evident to anyone familiar with me or the long history of baseless and fabricated accusations made by individuals who have controlled the Instagram account."

The controversy began on August 9 when a statement, purportedly from Lil Tay's family, was posted on her Instagram page, announcing the tragic deaths of Lil Tay and her brother, Jason Tian, under mysterious circumstances. The statement, which has since been deleted, expressed profound grief over their loss.

On August 10, Lil Tay herself refuted the death claims in a statement to TMZ, revealing that she was alive and well and that her Instagram had been hacked to disseminate the false report of her demise. She clarified, "I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken and struggling to find the right words to express myself. It’s been a very traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I was inundated with countless heartbreaking calls from concerned loved ones while trying to untangle this mess." She also stressed that her real name is Tay Tian, not 'Claire Hope.'

Subsequently, her former manager, Harry Tsang, who still identifies himself as "That Asian Guy on Liltay’s Video" on Twitter, cast doubts on the hacking incident, suggesting that the 24-hour timeframe for restoring a compromised account on platforms like Instagram was unusual. He also speculated that Lil Tay's brother, known for his penchant for extreme actions, might have had an ulterior motive behind the events, possibly aiming to illegitimately extract funds from devoted supporters and unsuspecting onlookers.

Instagram has taken action to label the post announcing Tay's death as containing "false information."