Lil Tay, the rapper who was falsely announced to be dead last month, was spotted alive and well for the first time in five years Wednesday at a Los Angeles airport.
The 14-year-old social media star was in a black hoodie, sunglasses and a face mask while security guards ushered her, as well as her brother, Jason Tian, and mother Angela Tian, as they were bombarded by curious photographers.
Jason was also said to be dead in a fake statement posted to Tay’s Instagram last month.
Tay did not say a word. She also hid her hands in the sleeves of her hoodie, so it remains unclear whether her hand was the one pictured in a cryptic photo on her Instagram Story Tuesday, which showed someone with long black fingernails clutching a US passport.
The Post has contacted a rep for a person who is believed to be Tay’s manager.
Another post made to Tay’s Story on Tuesday claimed that her father, Christopher J. Hope, is the person behind her false death announcement.
“My abusive racist misogynistic woman beating father faked my death,” white text placed against a black background along with a professional headshot of Hope, who’s an attorney, read.
However, Hope told TMZ that the accusations in the story are false — and even defamatory.
“The person who is responsible for that Instagram post, as well as anyone repeating the completely false and libelous accusation within it, are virtually certain to become defendants in a defamation lawsuit,” he told the outlet.
“Everything stated is 100% false, and I trust that this should be obvious to anyone who knows me or the long history of absurd and untrue statements made by the various people who have controlled the Instagram account,” Hope added.
Jason previously accused Hope of “physically and mentally” abusing Tay on a GoFundMe page in 2021.
Last month, Tay claimed her Instagram account was hacked, resulting in the false statement claiming she and Jason died “unexpectedly.”
“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,” read a statement from Tay, provided by her family, according to the outlet.
“My Instagram account was 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,” the statement concludes.
Meta allegedly claimed to TMZ on Aug. 13 that Lil Tay’s account really was hacked.
But the since-deleted death statement returned to Tay’s Instagram feed on Tuesday and remains there as of Wednesday evening.
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