Lil Tay has kept most of her fans in suspense since her death hoax spread in 2023 and the subsequent troubling social media messages from her account that revealed she was diagnosed with a Heart Tumor.
Many controversies have surrounded Tay’s life, birthing mixed feelings among her fans and followers, who total over five million on Instagram and other social platforms. The young talent who rose to fame through flaunting her flamboyant, luxurious lifestyle on social media has repeatedly left her fans with many unanswered questions. Here are a few things you probably don’t know about her.
Profile Summary
| Full name | Claire Tian |
| Nickname | Lil Tay |
| Date of birth | July 29, 2007 |
| Age | 17 years old |
| Zodiac sign | Leo |
| Place of birth | Los Angeles, United States of America |
| Nationality | American |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Mother | Angela Tian |
| Father | Christopher J. Hope |
| Net Worth |
$500,000 |
Who is Lil Tay?
Lil Tay, whose real name is Tay Tian, is an American-born Canadian internet personality and rapper. She came to the spotlight at age 9 in 2018 when she made several boastful videos and uploaded them on her Instagram handle. She bragged and flaunted luxurious houses, cars, and designer wear. In addition to her show-off, she had the habit of insulting her viewers.
Her videos raised concerns as they were deemed inappropriate, coming from a young girl of her age. Many people, including celebrities, registered their disapproval of her type of content; these include American musical star Snoop Dogg, who admonished her and encouraged her to go to school instead of portraying such an arrogant life on social media at a young age. He said, “She needs to be in school learning how to be a little girl, not a dumbass grown person.”
Soon after she became prominent and garnered over five million followers on Instagram, she went mute on social media for a while. It was later gathered that her father was totally against her lifestyle and had sought a court order to ban her from using social media until further notice as she was reportedly losing focus and abandoning her studies, not going to school for 72 days at a stretch. Consequently, Tay’s Instagram and YouTube videos had their content abruptly deleted in a bid to “rebrand” her image, as her father strived to help her achieve a professional career.
Lil Tay’s Early Life and Family
Lil Tay was born on July 29, 2007, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, to the family of Christopher J. Hope, a lawyer and her mother, Angela Tian, a real estate agent. She has a brother named Jason Tian. She lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with her mother and brother Jason, as her parents never married, though they shared custody of her.
Lil Tay’s Career and Coaching Controversies
Tay’s Sudden rise to fame is quite puzzling. The young prodigy made her first appearance on social media in early 2018 when she started engaging on Instagram with lots of videos depicting nothing short of wealth. She gained the audience and amassed over five million followers on Instagram and YouTube.
Through her raps and sensationalized behaviour, Lil Tay became a well-known internet personality. She described herself as “the youngest flexer of the century” due to her unguided flaunting of luxurious houses and other properties, which were at that time believed to belong to her until it was later realized otherwise. She collaborated with internet personalities like Bhad Bhabie, Jake Paul, Diplo, and other media superstars during this time.
Due to her consistency and unprecedented prominence, her father reportedly got her a talent manager, Harry Tsang, who would guide her to become more focused and imbibe professionalism. However, Tay never stopped posting videos that aroused criticism, as many people began to accuse her mother of being the mastermind behind Tay’s ill behaviour. Her mother later revealed that Tay was being coached by her half-older brother Jason, who allegedly was in charge of all her social media accounts, directing all her videos and writing the lyrics of her songs.
Jason was said to be very rude and harsh to Tay. He was reportedly seen often yelling at her and telling her she wasn’t good at anything. This would make Lil Tay cry and brace up again to improve just to gain Jason’s accolades, which never happened as he was reportedly so insatiable. It was gathered that the luxurious houses and cars Tay usually flaunted were properties that her mother enlisted for sale as a real estate agent that she was. This was happening without the consent of her mother’s employer, which subsequently led to her being sacked from her job.
Lil Tay’s Death Hoax
Tay left her fans mourning on August 9, 2023, when an Instagram post from her account reported that she had died alongside her older brother, Jason Tian. The post partly read, “It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of our beloved Claire’s sudden and tragic passing, “We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain. This outcome was entirely unexpected and has left us all in shock.” The post added that the cause of their death was under investigation at the moment.
However, Tay’s father, a lawyer representing her mother, and her former self-acclaimed manager, Harry Tsang, initially said that they could not confirm the authenticity of the information as being true or false. Also, both the Vancouver and Los Angeles police departments stated that they had no reports of her death and were not investigating it.
The next day, Tay’s family told TMZ that her Instagram account was hacked and declared the post a false alarm. Following the report and a confirmation from the Fact-checking website Snopes, the post announcing her death was deleted from her Instagram page.
The following month, Lil Tay made a massive comeback to social media with the release of a music video for her new song “Sucker 4 Green” in September 2023. “B- THOUGHT THE SHOW WAS OVER,” was the rapper’s caption alongside the video on Instagram.
Why is Lil Tay in the hospital?
Recently, Lil Tay made headlines again after her Instagram and X account (formerly Twitter) shared various posts soliciting prayers for the young talent. The posts were shared in series to update her fans about her health condition, which appeared to be critical at the time. “Please pray for Tay. We will be updating you as more information becomes available,” the first post read.
A few hours later, another post was uploaded to the account stating that Tay was in the ICU “in serious condition.” The post included an image of a hospital and a sign with an arrow pointing to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Not long after that, another post followed, stating that she had been “diagnosed with a life-threatening heart tumour” and asked fans for their “love and prayers.” The post also included an X-ray video of what appears to be her heart.
The following day, 13 September 2024, another update about her health surfaced; it read, “Tay is about to undergo major open-heart surgery to remove her heart tumour. This is a critical procedure; we ask for your prayers for a successful operation.” It was later announced through social media handles that the surgery was successful, and she is recovering.
What is Lil Tay’s Net Worth?
Lil Tay, a sensational rapper, entertainer, and social media celebrity, reportedly has a net worth of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in 2024.
