It has recently been revealed that Lil Tay, a 14-year-old internet phenomenon, passed away under unknown circumstances. The young star’s real name was Claire Hope, and her parents were Christopher John Hope and Angela Tian. Claire’s family recently announced she passed away, along with her brother.
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Lil Tay made waves on social media in 2017 when she was just 9 years old. She initially gained attention through rap music videos and caught the attention of many after boasting about her alleged lavish lifestyle. At some point, the internet even her the ‘Youngest flexer of the century.’
To put that into perspective, there was an instance where the young internet sensation posted a video with a Mercedes-Benz convertible. In the video, she mentioned, “Y’all ain’t doing nothing like Lil Tay, this is why all y’all f*cking haters hate me, bi*ch. This sh*t cost me two hundred thousand, I’m only nine years old, I ain’t got no license, but I still drive this sports car.”
She received plenty of backlash for the video, and many blamed her parents for the lack of guidance. Speaking of Angela and Christopher John, they have come under heavy fire after the death of the internet star. Many took to social media to express their concern for the teenager, and some even demanded that her parents be investigated.
The entire Lil Tay family needs to be investigated, I understand a lot of shit happens behind closed doors and some things are spiced up for the media but the entire situation with her family is just strange
— Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber Burns (@HydroOnTwitch) August 9, 2023
lil tay family is WEIRD ain’t no way she go mia for years and all of a sudden her and her brother pass away… investigate the whole family cause this crazy
— DILAH (@DOLLDILAH) August 9, 2023
I feel so awful for Lil Tay, she was exploited by her family to play a character that she probably didn’t wanna make and got harassed by the internet, and she was just 9 years old at the time, and then she dies so soon, it’s just tragic
— Matty Bodoque (@SadShark50) August 9, 2023
A fan tweeted that the activities that Lil Tay and her family were involved in were “Strange.” Many have also sympathized with the late teenager, mentioning that she was “abused” and ‘exploited’ by her family.
This Lil Tay situation is actually sad af pic.twitter.com/mvWGNbhyps
— hassi * (@weloveyouhassi) April 24, 2021
For some context, Lil Tay’s posts in 2021 after almost three years sent the internet into a meltdown after accusing her father of abuse. A series of Instagram posts claimed that Christopher John Hope allegedly fought for custody of Lil Tay, with the sole intention of controlling her career.
Moreover, it was alleged that he left his daughter with no money, despite her display of stacks of cash online. Reports at the time mentioned that her brother, Jason Tian, set up a fundraiser to help his younger sister.
Tyron Woodley slammed Lil Tay’s parents long before her sudden death
Lil Tay’s parents have been massively blamed for her activities on the internet. While some idolized the teenager for her unique approach to gaining popularity, some bashed Tian and Hope for letting Lil Tay get to that extent. And UFC fame Tyron Woodley was no different. A while ago, The Chosen One was part of TMZ’s YouTube projects.
There was a section where Woodley would react to the internet’s hottest events, and Lil Tay came up at the time. In 2018, Bhad Bhabie, aka Danielle Bregoli, had a brief altercation with Woah Vicky. Lil Tay threw her name into the mix and was even spotted shouting at Bregoli at the time. This wasn’t the only time when Lil Tay’s actions gained attention for all the wrong reasons.
Woodley claimed that “Someone was coaching her” after watching a video of Lil Tay responding to rumors of a multimillion-dollar headphones deal. Moreover, the former welterweight champion said, “Their parents didnt get their a** whooped when they were kids, and they did bad stuff. So now they’re sparing the rod and spoiling the child.”
He also mentioned that the abuse should be directed at her parents, especially after they failed to guide her. The backlash her parents have been receiving seems to be common. Many have mentioned that her sudden death is questionable, especially after her absence from social media.
Before alleging that her father was an abuser, one of Lil Tay’s last posts on social media was when she sent a heartfelt message to late rapper XXXTentacion. Since then, the teenager had been majorly off-grid, and the death of her and her brother, Jason Tian, is still under investigation.