After a heartbreaking and bizarre week for the young social media star, Lil Tay was able to get her account back.
Per a report from TMZ, a spokesperson for Meta, who owns and operates Instagram along with Facebook and WhatsApp, confirmed that they assisted in retrieving Tay’s account from the hacker.
Earlier this week, a hacker falsely published a now-deleted statement that Tay, 14, and her brother Jason Tian, 21, had passed away to her 3.6 million followers on Instagram. The post quickly made headlines and drew mourners to the comments.
On Thursday (August 10), a statement credited to Tay revealed that she and her brother were still alive. “It’s been a very traumatizing 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,” Tay said to TMZ.
She continued, “My Instagram account was compromised by a 3rd party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumors about me, to the point that even my name was wrong. My legal name is Tay Tian, not ‘Claire Hope.’”
Tay’s social media presence has been a source of controversy for years. The self-proclaimed “youngest flexer” achieved virality through a deliberate and occasionally chaotic social media strategy. By creating content with stacks of cash and flaunting expensive cars, Tay turned heads online and was profiled on Good Morning America. However, allegations of abuse ultimately led to Tay’s account remaining inactive since June 2018.
