Lil Tay’s former manager rejects ‘hack’ claim amid alleged death ‘hoax’

Lil Tay’s former supervisor, Harry Tsang, has weighed in on the confounding declare that she and her brother had not handed away — regardless of what was revealed on Instagram — and had been as an alternative victims of a hack.

On Wednesday, an announcement posted on the social media star’s verified web page declared that the 14-year-old and her brother had died — an announcement that sparked hypothesis amongst her followers throughout the online.

By Thursday, a spokesperson for the household reportedly told TMZ that she and her sibling weren’t, in truth, lifeless — and that her social media web page had been “compromised” by an unidentified assailant.

“I believe she’s nonetheless alive, and I believe it was pretend,” Tsang, 32, mentioned in a telephone name with The Put up on Thursday.

Nevertheless, Tsang famous that he has not but tried to achieve out to Lil Tay, and doesn’t intend to.

“I don’t imagine something that they are saying concerning the hacking,” he mentioned later within the name. “I’m glad that she’s okay.”

The previous supervisor additionally provided clarification with regard to feedback he made Wednesday, stating that he may neither confirm nor deny the “legitimacy” of the star’s passing.

“The explanation why I’ve that assertion was as a result of after I spoke to Duane Laventure [Lil Tay’s former social media manager] and Chris Hope [Lil Tay’s father], they can not even affirm if she actually handed away or not. That’s why I mentioned that,” he defined to The Put up.

TMZ reportedly acquired phrase from Lil Tay herself, claiming that her Instagram account “was compromised by a third occasion and used to unfold jarring misinformation and rumors,” and likewise identified that the alleged hacker had additionally spelled her identify unsuitable. “My authorized identify is Tay Tian, not ‘Claire Hope.’”

Tsang, nonetheless, couldn’t vouch for the brand new identify as he’d come to know her as Claire Hope whereas the 2 labored collectively.

The unique assertion declaring her demise has since been deleted from her Instagram web page.

“It’s with a heavy coronary heart that we share the devastating information of our beloved Claire’s sudden and tragic passing,” it learn, later including, “This end result was totally surprising, and has left us all in shock.”

To date, Los Angeles police haven’t been capable of affirm the demise of the younger artist, who hails from Toronto however relocated to LA in her rise to cyber superstardom.

The Put up reached out to the Toronto regulation workplace the place Chris Hope, Tay’s father, is employed, however the man on the road declined to corroborate his daughter’s passing.

“Yeah, you have got the appropriate particular person, however I don’t have any remark proper now,” Hope advised The Put up within the temporary, 2-minute name Wednesday. “I’m not capable of provide you with any remark proper now. I’m sorry — I can’t.”

When requested whether or not another person may affirm his daughter’s demise, he responded, “Um, no, not that that I’m conscious of.”

“Sorry, I can’t actually remark or provide you with any assist — I’m simply going to allow you to go,” he added cryptically earlier than hanging up.

In the meantime, suspicions that Hope had beforehand been abusive towards his daughter resurfaced within the wake of her doubtful “demise.” Allegations had been first leveled in an April 2021 GoFundMe profile organized by the teenager’s older brother, Jason Tian, who additionally claimed abuse by the hands of Hope’s spouse, Hanee.

In his enchantment, Tian shared, “My sister Tay has been silent on social media for the previous 3 years as a result of her absentee father (Chris Hope) served my mom a court docket order demanding management over Tay’s cash, profession and custody.”

Previous to the teenager’s alleged passing, Lil Tay hadn’t been energetic on social media since 2018.

Tian continued, “In consequence, it was court docket ordered that my sister needed to return to Vancouver, Canada … Since then he has stolen hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from my sister and has taken management of all her funds.”

Tsang, nonetheless, additionally doubts this narrative.

“He’s a cool man,” he mentioned of Hope. When requested by The Put up if he discovered the abuse allegations to be true, Tsang merely mentioned, “No, completely not.”