Who is Angela Tian? Lil Tay's mother accused of taking advantage of her daughter's online fame

July 06, 2024

Update: Rapper and social media influencer Lil Tay has confirmed she's alive over 24 hours after an Instagram post on her official account claimed both she and her brother Jason Tian had 'unexpectedly' died.

The 14-year-old has claimed that her Instagram account was 'hacked.'

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"I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say," Lil Tay told TMZ.

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Lil Tay, a 14-year-old influencer, was found dead on Wednesday, August 9, shocking the world and putting a devastating end to a tragic tale rife with exploitation and abuse rumors.

At the age of nine, Lil Tay, whose real name was Claire Hope, shot to fame after posting strange and contentious videos online where she was seen using the N-word and fighting with random people.

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She was hailed as one of the biggest rising stars on the internet in 2017, quickly gaining millions of followers. Still, some internet users were worried about her safety due to her bizarre videos.

Soon, rumours that she was being coerced into appearing in the videos by her family started to circulate.

These rumors were only strengthened when a video emerged that appeared to show her brother, Jason Tian, who was then 16 years old, advising her on what to say. However, let's know about her mother.

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Lil Tay was the youngest child of Angela Tian

Claire Hope, famously known as Lil Tay, was the youngest child of Angela Tian. She was an real estate agent. Her success in real estate influenced Lil Tay’s luxurious lifestyle.

There have been rumors that her mother and brother were taking advantage of her and forcing her to do things she was uncomfortable with for online fame. However, while speaking to 'Good Morning America' at the time, she urged, "No one is forcing me to do this. It's not true that [my family] wants to make money off of me."

When Lil Tay posted a terrifying message on her Instagram stories in July 2018 asking for assistance before abruptly deleting all of her videos hours later, the situation became more worrisome, as reported by Daily Mail.

Lil Tay's father Chris Hope was allegedly 'trying to destroy her life for his own financial gain'

In October 2018, someone claiming to have previously worked with the young celebrity posted a number of ominous messages on her Instagram account, alleging that Lil Tay's father Christopher Hope, who had split from her mother when she was one, was 'trying to destroy her life for his own financial gain.'

Lil Tay's life had been cut off for "a very long time," the person claimed, but he had just re-entered it and was attempting to "take her away from her mother", Angela. To Hollywood Life, Chris refuted the accusations, calling them all "lies" and asserting that he was only acting to defend her, as per reports.

Lil Tay posted the phrase 'help me' to her Instagram story

The mysterious circumstances around young rapper Lil Tay's sudden death further intensified after social media users noticed that the bio on her YouTube channel read "help me". Her social media accounts had all of their posts deleted hours later.

Although it is not known when the bio was updated, the eerie message left several fans confused. Twitter user @/conscapenews also shared a screenshot which showed that Tay's YouTube bio was changed to "I am not dead, my parents are lying" before being reverted back to "help me".

Jason, her brother, also posted a message with the subject line "Help" to his Instagram Stories at the time.