10 August 2023 , 18:44
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Lil Tay's former manager, Diomi Cordero, told The Mirror: "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about," after the death of the influencer was discovered to be a hoax.
On Wednesday, a post on Instagram said that Lil Tay had died. After over 24 hours, the controversial rapper told TMZ that she and her brother were both "safe and alive". Tay claimed that the post was made by a third party as part of a hacking attempt. The original post was also removed from Instagram.
Lil Tay also said in her statement: "I'm completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say. It’s been a very traumatising 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 was reported dead on Wednesday (@liltay/instagram)In a private Tweet, Diomi, who follows a reporter at The Mirror, wrote: "Don't believe everything you read on the internet." His comment came after the phoney death announcement was posted. The statement read: "We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain. This outcome was entirely unexpected and has left us all in shock." It also claimed her and her brother's deaths were "under investigation."
However, Vancouver Police, where Tay is from, confirmed to the Mirror that they were unaware of she and her brother's "death" and were not investigating anything. Los Angeles County Police, where Tay and her family live now, had no comment.
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Prior to the announcement, Lil Tay had been silent across social media since 2018. At that time, her Instagram had been wiped of all posts. The archived posts were since put back up, but at the time the wipe was strategic. Diomi told Buzzfeed in 2018 that it was part of a Lil Tay 'rebrand'.
Lil Tay's father and previous manager wouldn't comment on her 'death' (liltay/Instagram)
Some members of her team denied to comment (liltay/Instagram)When the death announcement was made, both her father and another former manager, Harry Tsang, said that they could not confirm or deny if she had died. Chris Hope, her father, told The Sun: "I'm not going to comment on that right now."
Harry told The Daily Beast: “I have been in communication with individuals who have an intimate understanding of the family’s situation. 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.”
Other members of her former team declined to comment. Her social media manager, Duane Laventure, told the Daily Beast that he was advised not to comment by Tay's mother, Qi Tian.
The original death notice referred to Tay as "Claire Hope," which the rapper told TMZ was not her legal name but it is Tay Tian. There's no confirmation of who created the hoax, but Tay believes it was "used to spread jarring misinformation and rumours regarding me, to the point that even my name was wrong."