The Untold Truth Of Lil Tay

The following article includes brief mentions of mental health struggles and child abuse allegations.

Lil Tay (aka Claire Hope or Tay Tian) rose to viral fame in 2018. Already a year into her social media star career, the nine-year-old swiftly became known as a foul-mouthed young girl and the self-proclaimed "youngest flexer of the century." Her Instagram account, which accumulated millions of fans, was also littered with phrases like "y'all ain't doing it like Lil Tay," "y'all broke a** haters," and other obscenities that would likely cause anyone else her age to be grounded for the rest of their preteen lives.

Lil Tay also became known for boasting about her wealth on her page, flashing wads of cash, spinning the wheels of fancy cars, showing off $100,000 watches, and flaunting off her name-brand outfits. Subsequently, the posts fascinated (and repulsed) tons of onlookers, but whether you loved or hated her posts, Lil Tay undeniably made her blueprint in the social media-sphere. By that summer, however, she suddenly became inactive on Instagram. Over the next few years, concern for Lil Tay's wellbeing would brew online amid her parents' custody battle and accusations of child abuse made against her father, Chris Hope, which he denied, per Complex. There were also allegations that she'd begun to struggle with anxiety and depression, as documented by the New York Post.

From questions about her race to her briefly blossoming rap career to those false reports on Lil Tay's alleged death in August 2023, let's explore a bit more about this pint-sized OG.

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

According to Lil Tay herself, the lifestyle she lived — or, at least, pretended to live on social media — was a drastic change from her life just a few years prior. In a since-deleted YouTube video shared on her account in December 2017, the social media star said she used to live in Atlanta and was "broke as hell." Reflecting on her transformation, she added, "But one day I woke up and I said to myself I ain't going to be broke no more. So I got up and worked hard, started moving bricks and now we be living in the hills."

Her seemingly troubled past was likely why she lashed out at critics who judged her for her behavior on social media back in April 2018. In the Instagram post, which has since been deleted, Lil Tay said she was simply trying to accomplish her dreams, regardless of her controversial antics, and urged critics to let her be so she could make her mama proud.

In December 2017, Lil Tay clapped back at YouTube star RiceGum after he called her out for bullying his sister in a video posted to his account. He also urged the social media star to just be herself rather than appropriating African American culture, which prompted her to respond by saying she was "partially Black." Lil Tay fired back, "You don't even know anything about me, so why are you just making assumptions? So now you know and you can just shut the f*** up. Thanks."

Despite the tween's declarations, the suspicions regarding her racial background were reignited in May 2018 after news personality DJ Akademiks posted a video to Instagram that allegedly showed Lil Tay being coached to act and talk how she does by older brother Jason Tian. In response, Lil Tay claimed to "Good Morning America" of her internet persona, "It's all me." Meanwhile, mom Angela Tian told BuzzFeed News of Jason and Lil Tay's apparent collaboration, "He is the one, only one [who] did an excellent job for her, he guided her, did everything for her without anybody else involved."

Once the controversial preteen seemingly dominated Instagram and developed a significant and profitable social media following, she turned her attention to the music industry, releasing her debut single "Money Way" in April 2018. However, the song caught quite the backlash for its unconventional and straight-up disturbing lyrics. In the first verse of the track, Tay rapped, "I'm only 9, smoking on trees / Smoking on P," which — if you ask us — is an immediate buzzkill for any music-head. 

Even so, the social media star didn't seem to have any plans to forgo her music at this point — despite the heavy criticism. In fact, when asked how often she made music during an interview with Sound & Track Magazine that February, Tay replied, "On the daily basis, I wish I could drop music everyday." Translation: you had better get used to it, even if you weren't a fan, 'cause Lil Tay was about to take over all the streaming platforms.

However, the aspiring rapper would only go on to release a handful of tracks, including a collaboration with fellow YouTuber Jake Paul called "Teacher Diss Track."

Like many other rappers in this day and age, you've gotta have an entourage. The biggest influencers in the music industry will tell you that it's an essential part of any up-and-coming artists' career — which is likely why, any time you saw Lil Tay amid her viral fame, fellow social media star Woah Vicky was usually lurking closely behind. The two would often refer to each other as sisters and even partied it up together at Coachella in April 2018.

The duo was so close that they often went toe-to-toe with others for one another. That May, for example, Woah Vicky called out Lil Tay's brother, Jason Tian — who had been heavily criticized for being the alleged mastermind behind his sister's antics, as previously mentioned — on her Instagram account, insisting in the since-deleted post that he was too old to be doing such things for social media. And then Lil Tay got into a pretty intense beef herself with another controversial star over Vicky...

In April 2018, Lil Tay got caught up in some beef between Woah Vicky and Danielle Bregoli — aka Bhad Bhabie or the "Cash me outside" girl. Apparently, Bregoli was upset that Vicky had used a derogatory word to describe one of her friends, so she confronted her in Los Angeles, per TMZ. And Lil Tay was right there for the entire thing.

The then-preteen later posted the exchange on her Instagram, showing bodyguards stepping in to diffuse the situation after Vicky and Bregoli came close to throwing blows at one another. Lil Tay also attacked the "Gucci Flip Flops" rapper online, writing, "How a girl gone talk bout Gucci flip flops when u only can afford tank tops. [By the way] you look like a rat with draw on eyebrows." Tay continued, "Tf happens to ur eyebrows? Ima smack yo mama when I see her. ... Broke a** b***h, you can't fight for s*** and you a b***h." Basically, you didn't want to mess with this kid.

If you ever heard Lil Tay's single "Money Way" and noticed the undeniable similarities to Lil Pump's record-breaking 2017 single "Gucci Gang," it's not just a coincidence. The aspiring rapper was apparently one of his biggest fans, and "Gucci Gang" was her absolute favorite song ever. Lil Tay even temporarily went by the name "Jetski" — one of Pump's monikers — to express her admiration for the Miami native.

In April 2018, one of Tay's biggest dreams came true: She finally got to meet the "D Rose" rapper. She also used the opportunity to capitalize off her beef with Danielle Bregoli, insisting Pump wasn't feeling her, either. She captioned a photo of her and Pump, which she shared on Instagram, "Met up w/ my boy lil pump yesterday, he called me up to link & he said cashmeousside a [b***h]. Lmfao girl stop hitting his line!"

Once Lil Tay's idol was allegedly in on her beef with Bregoli, fans guessed that it wasn't gonna die down for a while. However, while Lil Tay later called Bregoli out once more when TMZ caught up with her that May, their feud eventually appeared to fizzle out.

Okay, remember when we said Lil Tay had a short-lived beef with Danielle Bregoli? Well, it's still worth mentioning that fellow controversial rapper 6ix9ine was beefing with Bregoli's rumored love interest, Trippie Redd, at the time — which created the perfect opportunity to form a new alliance, right? Clearly, Lil Tay and the "Gummo" rapper thought so, because they seemingly became super close.

Their friendship initially began when 6ix9ine discovered and posted a picture to Instagram that allegedly showed Redd and Bregoli cuddled up in bed together. He then shared a video on his page accusing his former collaborator of having sex with Lil Tay's arch nemesis. The problem, you ask? At the time, Bregoli was just 15 years old while Redd was 19. Bregoli did, however, attempt to clarify the rumors, assuring her fans that she and Redd hadn't done anything other than kissing. 

But none of that mattered to Lil Tay, as she went online to drag the "Hi Bich" rapper over the rumors on multiple occasions. Even 6ix9ine hopped in sometimes.

When Chief Keef released his bubbly single "Can You Be My Friend" in 2017, he probably didn't have a 9-year-old in mind. Nonetheless, he and Lil Tay have seemingly forged a close-knit friendship and even linked up for some fun photos at one of Keef's shows in April 2018, which were later posted on Lil Tay's Instagram account. In the caption of one particular shot, Lil Tay revealed that she and the "Don't Like" rapper were even working on a special project together for their fans. She wrote, "Me and my big Bro @chieffkeeffsossa got a video on the way. Gang Gang.. be ready."

Although many fans were hoping for a music collaboration from the two, the video was actually just a recording of their exchange at Keef's concert. In the clip, he's shown gifting the controversial tween a headband from his clothing store, GloGang, before going on stage at his show. But the gesture at least proved just how solid their friendship was, and it left fans with a glimmer of hope for a future collab. 

Meanwhile, Lil Tay also grew close with late rapper XXXTentacion. Calling him a "father figure" in an Instagram tribute following his tragic death in 2018, she wrote in part, "X you truly changed me ... you were there for me when everyone wanted me to fail, you were there to give me advice, you were there." 

What actually made Lil Tay famous — her profanity-laced social media posts and affinity to flex in foreign cars and lavish homes — actually forced her mother, Angela Tian, to resign from her job as a real estate agent. It all started with one particular Instagram video, in which the internet sensation was shown flaunting a wad of cash and showing off a red Mercedes convertible.

Turns out the whip belonged to David Yang, the managing partner of the realty company — Pacific Evergreen Realty — that employed Tian. He told Global News that the mother-of-two had initially asked if her daughter could simply take a photo with the car, but he had no idea the post would end up on Instagram in front of millions.

To make matters worse, that wasn't the only time that Lil Tay had used her mother's real estate connections to flex for her fan base. After Tian was exposed, it was also revealed that her alleged new apartment, which Lil Tay had bragged about in another Instagram video in May 2018, was actually a listing for the same real estate company. And with all that evidence, Tian couldn't do anything except resign.

There had often been a lot of skepticism surrounding Lil Tay's actual residence. Many of her videos appeared to be shot in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and other elite parts of California. However, once her mother got called out over her daughter's antics, it was revealed that Angela Tian was a real estate agent in Vancouver rather than the Golden State.

The suspicions were further fueled after Lil Tay claimed she was living in a $3.6 million dollar penthouse in Beverly Hills when it was, in fact, located in Canada. It also didn't help when internet trolls decided to do some research on the then-preteen and unearthed the contact information of Lil Tay's management in May 2018. According to the Daily Hive, they found a Vancouver-area based number, which raised even more eyebrows regarding her actual whereabouts.

But perhaps — in Lil Tay's defense — she was just speaking all of her dreams into existence. And we couldn't really be too mad at that.

On August 9, 2023, a since-deleted statement appeared on Lil Tay's previously defunct Instagram account alleging that the 14-year-old had died. "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," the post read, further claiming that her brother, Jason Tian, had also died. 

When People contacted Lil Tay's father, Chris Hope, he simply said, "I don't have any comment." The outlet also confirmed that the LAPD and LA County medical examiner's office didn't have any record of her death. Meanwhile, TMZ deleted its article reporting on the death announcement, and former manager Harry Tsang stated to ET, "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."

With many fans left confused over the news, some felt it may be a hoax. Thankfully, Lil Tay herself confirmed as much to TMZ the following day. "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 in a family statement. Noting that her Instagram account had been hacked, Lil Tay added, "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."