Asian Canadian rapper Lil Tay, whose real name is Claire Eileen Qi Hope, has died at the age of 14. According to The Hollywood Reporter, her death is currently under investigation.
The teen’s family announced her death on her Instagram page.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of our beloved Claire’s sudden and tragic passing. We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain,” the statement says. “This outcome was entirely unexpected and has left us all in shock.”
The post also revealed that Hopes’ brother Jason Tian had also recently died.
Lil Tay went viral on social media in 2018 when she was nine years old. According to Variety, she called herself the “youngest flexer of the century,” posting herself flashing money and posing in front of luxury cars.
But the internet hasn’t heard from Hope since late 2018. The teen hadn’t posted on social media in five years prior to her death, Entertainment Weekly reports. Her last post was a tribute to XXXTentacion after his death in June 2018.
Lil Tay was put in the middle of a custody battle between her parents shortly after her disappearance from social media, Variety reports. Allegations accusing her father Christopher Hope of abuse were posted to her Instagram but swiftly deleted. Her manager later claimed they were fabricated.
In March 2019, Lil Tay did a phone interview with the Daily Beast alongside her mother Angela Tian. Her mother explained that she separated from Lil Tay’s father when the star was one year old.
In the interview, Lil Tay explained that she was in “a bad situation” with her father. They claimed Christopher Hope had issued a court order forcing Lil Tay and her mother to move back to Vancouver.
“He was threatening to arrest—to have my mom arrested if we didn’t go back,” Lil Tay claimed in the interview.
The young star also said her father was using her for money, noting that he had recently trademarked the name “Lil Tay.” Hope told The Daily Beast he had applied for the trademark because he felt Tian was not taking “any steps to do things in a business-like manner.”
Lil Tay’s death is currently under investigation, and this story is still developing.
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