Lil Tay claims her father tried to 'sabotage' her with her viral death hoax
Canadian rapper and influencer Lil Tay has opened up about her fake death announcement that caused her to go viral earlier this year. She revealed that the hoax was done by her father who wanted to "sabotage" her.
Lil Tay, whose real name is Claire Hope, detailed this in her interview with Rolling Stone carried by PEOPLE, wherein she alleged that her estranged father Christopher used the hoax "as a last resort to sabotage" her.
According to her, Christopher enlisted the help of Harry Tsang, an influencer who has been referred to as Lil Tay's former manager, to spread the news of her death. This would then "boost exposure for a cryptocurrency coin that exploited her," according to PEOPLE.
"Somebody has a strategy that a good way to get publicity is to make accusations against me. They’re all false," Lil Tay said.
Tsang meanwhile denied his involvement in the death hoax, explaining that the cryptocurrency strategy was a “part of a plan to bring [Tay] back" into the spotlight." He instead placed the blame on the rapper's brother Jason, who he described as someone "known to do something crazy."
Jason, however, pointed fingers back at Tsang, saying "He went to every publication possible to allege I hacked Tay’s page to fake her death whilst also peddling the fraudulent Lil Tay crypto coin."
On how the death hoax affected her, Lil Tay said that it crippled her music career.
"I really wanted to get things going, and this was just something that came out of absolutely nowhere. And I had to clean up," she said, sharing that she was already preparing her musical comeback.
"I had some songs that I wanted to put out after winning my freedom. And thankfully, I did. So I was looking to get back on track as soon as I could. And then the death thing happens," the singer added.
The hoax came in August when the teen rapper’s family announced her "tragic and sudden passing" on Instagram, but was deleted later on. "We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain. This outcome was entirely unexpected, and has left us all in shock," her relatives said in a statement.
However, TMZ claimed that they have received a statement from Lil Tay herself, saying that she is very much alive and that her Instagram was "compromised" and "used to spread jarring misinformation and rumors" about her.
She has since been back up on her feet again, having released a music video for her new song Sucker 4 Green.