Lil Tay Death Hoax Hack

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Overview

Lil Tay Death Hoax Hack, also known as Lil Tay Is Alive, refers to a death hoax based on the unconfirmed death of 14-year-old internet personality Lil Tay (also known as Tay Tian or Claire Hope, though Tay said the latter is not her legal name) in August 2023, coinciding with the purported death of her older brother Jason Tian. Her supposed death was announced on her Instagram account via a text post, however, when reporters reached out to Lil Tay's father and former manager for confirmation, they refused to confirm it. Additionally, the Los Angeles Police Department and Vancouver Police Department both stated that they had no reports of her death and were not investigating the case. The aforementioned pieces of information led many to speculate that Lil Tay was still alive. On August 10th, it was then reported by TMZ that according to Lil Tay and her family, Lil Tay's account had been hacked and that she was still alive.

Background

On August 9th, 2023, an unknown admin posted a text post to Lil Tay's Instagram^[1] account, stating that she and her brother had passed away. At the time of her purported death, she was 14 years old. The text post also announced that her death was "under investigation." The post gained over 1.1 million likes in one day (seen below).

On the day of, multiple media outlets chimed in on the news, however, around 7 p.m. EST, the news outlet Insider^[2] published an article in which they'd reached out to Lil Tay's father, Christopher John Hope, and her former manager, Harry Tsang, who both refused to confirm or dismiss her death. Hope allegedly, "declined to answer whether his daughter was still alive," and Tsang stated, "the situation called for 'cautious consideration' and he could not confirm or deny the news currently."

Insider^[2] also reached out to both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Vancouver Police Department (two places where Lil Tay's family reportedly resided) and neither department had a report of her death and were also not investigating the case. Also on the evening of August 9th, The Daily Beast^[16] corroborated these claims.

The details of Insider's^[2] article were echoed in a viral X^[3] post published by No Jumper on August 9th, gaining over 54,800 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Similar viral posts about the update were posted on X^[4]^[5] by large accounts like @PopBase and @Aiden_Revival. Additionally, viral posts also surfaced on platforms like Instagram,^[6] such as one from DJ Akademiks that gained over 56,300 likes in less than a day.

Developments

Online Reactions Following Death Announcement

Speculation about whether Lil Tay's rumored "death hoax" was true spread across social media platforms on August 9th, 2023. For instance, YouTuber SomeOrdinaryGamers posted to X^[7] about the update, gaining roughly 39,500 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). Also on August 9th, Keemstar's X^[8] account for DramaAlert posted an update that TMZ had deleted their prior article which confirmed Lil Tay's death, gaining over 10,800 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

Speculation also surfaced on TikTok, such as a video posted by TikToker^[9] @freekdagemini on August 9th, 2023, earning roughly 3.4 million plays and 488,200 likes in less than a day (shown below, left). Also on August 9th, TikToker^[10] @thekylemarisa posted a reaction, gaining over 201,000 plays and 14,900 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

Lil Tay and Brother's Purported Instagram Account @termanii Denies Death

On August 9th, 2023, an Instagram^[11] account called @termanii (since deleted) posted a photo of Lil Tay to Instagram^[12] with a long-form caption written in all caps (shown below). The post was purportedly written by Lil Tay's older brother, Jason Tian, and among many statements, the caption read, "ME AND TAY ARE NOT DEAD. WE DONT GOT ACCESS TO THE ACCOUNT. OUR PARENTS WANTS US GONE OFF THE INTERNET BUT WE WILL NOT GO AWAY. THIS IS OUR NEW ACCOUNT (FOR NOW)." By the next day, August 10th, the account and its post were deleted from Instagram, however, internet users added both to the Internet Archive,^[11]^[12] showing that the post gained over 131,100 likes before its deletion.

The account's post was echoed by X^[13] user @FearedBuck on August 9th, gaining over 17,800 likes in less than a day. Also, streamer RiceGum reacted to the account's post on August 9th, seen in a clip posted by TikToker^[14] @clippingwl that same day, gaining roughly 2.2 million plays and 209,000 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Ultimately, it is unconfirmed who the @termanii account belonged to. Others, such as X^[15] user @defnoodles on August 9th, quote retweeted X^[13] user @FearedBuck, providing screenshots of @termanii's account information, showing that the account was purportedly based in Belgium (shown below).

TMZ Confirms Instagram Hack / Death Hoax

On August 10th, 2023, TMZ^[17] published an exclusive interview with Lil Tay in which she claimed "I'm not dead." She also reportedly said that her Instagram account had been "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.'" She also claimed that her brother was also alive (excerpt seen below).

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. 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.

Instagram Accusations Levied Against Christopher Hope

On September 26th, 2023, the Lil Tay Instagram account claimed the hoax was orchestrated by her "abusive" father, Christopher Hope. Hope denied the allegations in a statement to TMZ and said the people running Lil Tay's account would be sued for defamation.

Online Reactions

After the publishing of TMZ's interview on August 10th, 2023, the news spread quickly to the website formerly known as Twitter,^[18]^[19] inspiring memes and reactions throughout the day. Various reactions to the news centered on skepticism over who hacked Lil Tay's account, evident in a QRT posted by X^[20] user @keyon on August 10th, stating, "Somebody has to be investigated what the hell," gaining roughly 12,400 likes in an hour (shown below, left).

Others expressed relief, such as X^[21] user @wavyemma who wrote, "honestly I just let out the biggest sigh of relief I don’t even care about the circumstances. She was too young to be gone," gaining over 350 likes in an hour (shown below, right).

Humorous content about Lil Tay's death and her Instagram hack continued to surface on X going into mid-August 2023, as well as various media outlets reporting on the development.^[22]