Meta has reported that a post on Lil Tay’s Instagram account regarding her death was the result of hacking and that they have helped the young star recover her account. A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, released the information about the hack to TMZ.
A post uploaded to her account last week claimed that she and her brother died. The post described the deaths of the both of them as “sudden,” “tragic,” and “unexpected” without revealing any other details.
The post also asked for privacy as the family grieved their losses and said that the deaths were under investigation. However, later statements from authorities claimed that neither deaths had been reported and that no investigations were even started.
Concerns about the veracity of the post started almost as soon as it went public. Family members and others close to the young rapper refused to comment on the matter, sowing confusion over whether the post was real or not.
The day after the fake message went live, Lil Tay released a statement about the account being compromised to spread misinformation. In the statement to TMZ, she said, “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.”
Lil Tay became a viral sensation in 2018 after releasing popular videos of her rapping amongst backdrops of luxury cars and piles of money. While the fake Instagram post claimed that the 14-year-old rapper’s first name was Claire, the young star clarified that her legal name is actually Tay Tian.