'Lil Tay wasn't lying', Meta confirms it helped the influencer to dismiss fake death news, fans remain skeptical

Some netizens had even termed the entire issue surrounding Lil Tay as "publicity stunt".

The entire drama surrounding influencer Lil Tay's death news turning out to be a hoax and her subsequent claim of "account hacking", took the social media by storm. Fans who were genuinely concerned about Tay, were taken aback by the series of events which put a big question mark over what they read and believe on social media. Some users even termed the entire issue surrounding Lil Tay as "publicity stunt".

Lil Tay (Twitter)

A spokesperson for Meta has confirmed to TMZ that Lil Tay's Instagram account was indeed hacked and the social media company helped her get control of it.

Earlier, On Thursday, in a statement provided to TMZ from Tay's family, she said: "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. 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."

"My Instagram account was compromised by a 3rd party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumors regarding me, to the point that even my name was wrong. My legal name is Tay Tian, not "Claire Hope," TMZ quoted her as saying.

Notably, the death statement which was posted through her Instagram account was deleted after Tay retrieved control of her account.

Meanwhile, Tay's manager Harry Tsang told the New York Post “I don’t believe anything that they say about the hacking”. Tsang claimed that the entire drama could be the work of Tay's brother.

“The actions of Liltay’s brother, renowned for his propensity for extreme measures, lead me to hypothesize an alternative motive behind this occurrence,” Tsang told Rolling Stone.

“It is conceivable that the intention behind these events could be rooted in an endeavor to illicitly extract funds from devoted supporters and unwitting bystanders,” added Tsang.

Now 14-year-old Tay had stopped posting on her verified Instagram account in 2018. Later, she alleged abuse from her father. Tay's brother Jason had organised a GoFundMe for her titled “Save Tay from a Life of Abuse”. Jason accused Tay's father and stepmother of abusing his younger sister in various ways.