Biography:

Claire Eileen Qi Hope (2008/2009 – August 2023), known professionally as Lil Tay, was an American-born Canadian internet personality and child rapper.^[1] In 2018, when she was 9 years old, she became famous online and was self-proclaimed to be the “youngest flexer of the century”.^[2] Her social media presence on Instagram and rap videos on YouTube attracted millions of views and followers.^[1]

Personal life

Claire Eileen Qi Hope^[3][4][5] was born in 2008 or 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia to mother Angela Tian, a former real estate agent, and father Christopher J. Hope, a lawyer.^[6] Claire’s mother was Chinese while her father was of European Canadian ancestry.^[7] She moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at an early age.^[1][6]

Career

Hope’s career began in 2017, however her career became well known when she was nine years old in February 2018.^[2][8] She first rose to prominence through her presence on social media sites like Instagram by posting pictures of herself in luxury vehicles while wearing designer clothes.^[9][1] She began posting rap videos on YouTube which garnered millions of views.^[1] Her popularity soared when YouTuber RiceGum created a video criticizing Hope.^[1]

While her popularity was growing, Hope moved out of her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia and began homeschooling in Los Angeles, California.^[1][8] She moved with her mother, Angela Tian and 16-year-old brother to live with Los Angeles-native Josiah Jenkins, who was described as a “miracle worker” for social media influencers.^[1] That same year, Hope made her custody battle public on her social media account in which it was revealed she was living with her father, Christopher John Hope.^[10] As Hope’s career became more public, Tay’s mother, Angela Tian, had faced criticism online for allowing her young daughter to create rap videos with crude language.^[10]

Hope had also gained the reputation of insulting her viewers while boasting about her wealth.^[2] Her controversial videos and reputation caused her mother to lose her real estate employment in Vancouver.^[2] Her career had also been subject to controversy about the context of her videos. It was noted that her older brother had directed several of her videos by force and Hope was noted to have cried behind the scenes.^[2]

Her videos were also criticized by rapper Snoop Dogg who noted that “[Hope] need to be in school learning how to be a little girl not a dumb grown person”.^[9] Several videos of her with Jake Paul at his residence to Hope feuding with internet celebrity Danielle Bregoli had more than four million views on YouTube.^[9]

Hope had been associated with rappers Chief Keef and XXXTentacion, whom she referred to the latter as a “father figure”.^[11] In 2018, a three episode docuseries titled Life with Lil Tay premiered, chronicling her rise to fame.^[11]

During her peak in popularity in 2018, Hope had amassed 2.4 million followers on Instagram within a span of a few months.^[2] Amid controversy and speculation that she was forced into her career by her mother, Hope defended her mother in an interview on Good Morning America, saying she was not forcing Hope to act this way and that she was content with her actions.^[12] Abruptly in June 2018, Hope’s Instagram and YouTube videos had their contents wiped out in an attempt to “rebrand” her image.^[2] This was after a video from December 2017 resurfaced in which Hope used an anti-Black slur.^[8]

Several months after she abruptly ended her career, a series of abuse allegations against her father, Christopher J. Hope, were posted to Hope’s Instagram account.^[11] The allegations claimed that her father had court-ordered Hope back to Canada in order to profit off her earnings.^[11] Hope’s manager claimed that the posts were a result of a hack and that the allegations were false.^[11]

In 2019, it was revealed in an edition of New York’s The Cut, that Hope’s brother, Jason, managed all of her social media presence and that her mother had several business meetings about Hope without her involvement or any contracts signed.^[13]

Death

On August 9, 2023, it was announced that she had died at the age of 14.^[11][14][15] It was also announced that her brother, Jason Tian, had died, aged 21.^[15][16] The announcement of Hope’s death caused speculation.^[17] When questioned by Insider, both Hope’s father, Christopher J. Hope, and her former manager, Harry Tsang, said they could not confirm or deny whether she had died.^[18] The Vancouver and Los Angeles police departments also stated that they had no reports of her death, and were not investigating it.^[18] Both of their deaths were reported to be “unexpected” and under investigation.^[6]

Credits: