LIL Tay, a teenage rapper who became famous for her viral videos at age 9 before disappearing from social media, has supposedly died.
The teen, whose real name is Claire Hope Eileen Qi, supposedly died unexpectedly, according to an unattributed statement published on her official Instagram page on Wednesday.
Tay's brother has also supposedly died, according to the Instagram post.
Their causes of death have not been disclosed and the situation is still under investigation.
However, when reached by phone on Wednesday evening, Tay's father, Christopher Hope, refused to provide any clarity on the situation.
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The U.S. Sun asked Hope whether or not his daughter and son had died, to which he casually responded: "I'm not going to comment on that right now."
Hope said he was aware of the mounting speculation about Tay's death but said he was unwilling to share any further information.
He also refused to confirm whether Tay was living with him at the time of her supposed death, whether police had been notified about the situation, and whether or not he had full custody of Tay.
"I'm not going to issue any comment," he said. "I'm not going to answer that at the moment."
It remains unclear who posted the unattributed Instagram statement.
'YOUNGEST FLEXER'
Tay, who called herself "the youngest flexer of the century," rose to fame for her crass, boastful social media videos.
"This is a message to all y’all broke-ass haters, y’all ain't doing it like Lil Tay," she said in one clip where she can be seen hopping into a red Mercedes-Benz with a wad of cash.
"I’m only 9 years old. I don’t got no license, but I still drive this sports car.
"Your favorite rapper ain’t even doing it like Lil Tay."
Tay gained prominence through collaborations and splashy public disputes with figures like Bhad Bhabie, Jake Paul, and Woah Vicky, The Atlantic reported.
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The videos were made with the help of her brother, who was around 16 years old when Tay rose to fame.
Tay's brother, Jason, would generally tell the girl what to say and acted as her manager.
Although Tay claimed to be a millionaire who owned luxury cars, this image was largely manufactured.
She and Jason made many videos in expensive homes they briefly had access to through their mother Angie Tian, who was a real estate agent.
As her popularity rose, Tay and her family moved from their home near Vancouver, Canada, to Los Angeles.
But Tay disappeared from social media nearly four years ago as the public realized that Jason was behind the viral clips.
This was also around the time that a video of Tay saying a racial slur and smoking a hookah pipe began circulating online, The Cut reported.
Angie's former boss told ABC some of the Lil Tay videos were filmed in his car and on his properties without permission.
In an interview with the outlet, Angie and Tay explained that the girl chose to be featured in the videos.
"No one’s forcing me to do this," Tay said.
"She has a passion," Angie said.
Angie and the social media star's father, the previously mentioned Christopher Hope, were battling over custody as early as 2018, TMZ reported.
Although they agreed that she should be an entertainer, Tay's father wanted her to take a less controversial path into the limelight, Insider reported.
In 2019, lurid accusations about Tay's father were posted to the Lil Tay social media accounts, but were promptly deleted.
The star's last Instagram post was a memorial for the rapper XXXTentacion, who was murdered in Florida in 2018.
Fans left their thoughts on the teen's death below the post.
"This is absolutely heartbreaking," one commenter said.
