Lil Tay's Instagram says the rapper has died, but nobody is publicly confirming the news

• A statement on Lil Tay's Instagram page says the braggadocious influencer is dead.
• But her father declined to confirm the news, and no public corroboration has emerged.

An Instagram post saying 15-year-old internet star Lil Tay had died prompted confusion Wednesday as no other sources publicly came forward to confirm the news.

The announcement emerged on the verified Instagram page belonging to Lil Tay, whose real name is Claire Hope. The statement called the internet star's death "sudden and tragic" and "entirely unexpected." It also suggested her brother, Jason Tian, had died as well. The statement didn't give causes of death for either and said the deaths were under investigation.

But law-enforcement agencies in Los Angeles and Vancouver, British Columbia — two cities where Lil Tay is known to have lived — told Insider there were no active death investigations involving Hope.

"It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of our beloved Claire's sudden and tragic passing," the Instagram message said. "This outcome was entirely unexpected and has left us all in shock. Her brother's passing adds an even more unimaginable depth to our grief.

"During this time of immense sorrow, we kindly ask for privacy as we grieve this overwhelming loss, as the circumstances surrounding Claire and her brother's passing are still under investigation."

It's unclear who published the message. Lil Tay's mother, Angela Tian, previously told Insider that Jason Tian at one time controlled the Instagram account. In 2019, Insider reported that the star's account was used to level baseless allegations against her father during a bitter custody dispute.

When reached for comment, Lil Tay's father, Christopher Hope, told Insider he could not comment on the Instagram post and declined to answer whether his daughter was still alive.

Similarly, Harry Tsang, the star's former manager, told Insider that the situation called for "cautious consideration" and that he could not confirm or deny the news.

"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," Tsang told Insider in an emailed statement Wednesday. "This situation calls for cautious consideration and respect for the sensitivities involved. My commitment remains focused on delivering updates that are both reliable and appropriately timed."

Neither the police nor the medical examiner in Los Angeles had information on an investigation into the death of anyone named Claire Hope.

The Vancouver Police Department also said it had no reports of her death and wasn't investigating the case. Lil Tay grew up in Vancouver.

The news of the Instagram post quickly traveled across the internet.

Lil Tay became famous in 2017 when she was nine years old for her brash on-screen persona, with curse-laden monologues boasting about mansions, cars, and bundles of cash. In 2018, she disappeared from the internet after a video leaked with a voice behind the camera feeding her lines, which was speculated to be the voice of her brother.

A battle then ensued for the future of her career, with her manager Tsang, her father, and her promoter Chris Jones on one side and her mother and her brother on the other.

In 2021, Lil Tay's Instagram account became active after years of dormancy when posts, seemingly from her brother, accused their father of physical and emotional abuse and stealing all of Tay's money. Hope denied these allegations with a cease-and-desist order to Instagram at the time.

Angela Tian did not immediately respond to a request for comment following Wednesday's Instagram post.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to reflect the uncertainty over whether Lil Tay died, and now includes a comment from Lil Tay's former manager.