Social media star Lil Tay has claimed her father started a viral death hoax about herself and her brother in an attempt to 'sabotage' her.
Fans across the globe were left stunned earlier this year when a post suddenly appeared on the Instagram page of a now-16-year-old Lil Tay which announced her sudden death.
The post described her death as 'tragic', and claimed that not only had Lil Tay passed away, but that her brother Jason had died as well.
“We kindly ask for privacy as we grieve this overwhelming loss,” the post stated.
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In the following days the post was determined to be a hoax, and a few weeks later Lil Tay took to Instagram to claim her father Christopher Hope was the one responsible.
The former child star has now opened up further about the ordeal, telling Rolling Stone the hoax came after her mother was appointed her sole guardian, as she was preparing to release new music.
“I had some songs that I wanted to put out after winning my freedom," she said.
"And thankfully, I did. So I was looking to get back on track as soon as I could. And then the death thing happens.”
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Lil Tay alleged Hope was the one who orchestrated the hoax, describing it as a 'last resort to sabotage me'.
In the interview, she went on to claim that influencer Harry Tsang, who has previously been described as Lil Tay's former manager, worked with her father to spread the death hoax.
Lil Tay has denied that Tsang ever formally represented her as a manager, but claimed he worked with Hope as they wanted to promote a cryptocurrency coin that 'exploited [her] name'.
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In response to the allegations, Hope denied that he was responsible for the death hoax.
He told UNILAD: "Any claim that I had anything to do with the Instagram hoax is untrue and not only that, absurd as well. Ask yourself who benefited from the Instagram hoax?
"It’s sad that the people giving my daughter advice think the best way to drum up publicity is to keep making preposterous statements about me. I hope my daughter is happy and successful in her endeavors going forward."
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Meanwhile, Tsang also denied having anything to do with the death hoax, and instead suggested Jason could be responsible as he is 'known to do something crazy'.
Jason refuted Tsang's claims, arguing: "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."
Tsang indicated to UNILAD he was involved in the cryptocurrency, adding to Rolling Stone it was 'part of a plan to bring [Tay] back' into the public eye, though he said he had been in contact with people in Lil Tay’s circle about the scheme.
Both Tsang and Hope claimed that while Tsang worked briefly with the family in an unofficial capacity in 2018, and they are not working together now.
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UNILAD has contacted Jason for a comment.
Emily Brown