Lil Tay, who is believed to be between the ages of 14-16, took to Instagram on Saturday to break her silence for the first time since a fake announcement about her death went viral in August. The rapper and singer went live on the popular social media app while wearing a pink outfit that included a sleeveless crop top and matching skirt. She started off playing the piano before sitting down to talk about intimate details in her life, including why she’s been out of the spotlight for years and how her father, Christopher Hope, and his wife allegedly abused her.
During the clip, she explained that her father only stepped back into her life after she was famous and had custody of her for a while. She said it was when she was under his custody that the alleged abuse, both physical and mental, was going on. She also mentioned the death hoax and claimed it was her father who was behind it.
Tay went on to say that a person has also been claiming to be her ex-manager, but they’re lying and working with her dad. She wrapped the livestream up by confirming that her mom, who she said supports her, now has custody of her again and she’s ready to restart her music career. She followed the open discussion with a post featuring a new music video for a song called “Sucker 4 Green,” which can be seen below.
“IM BACK🔥IM BACK ☺️IM BACK😜LINK IN MY BIO‼️ YALL BITCHES THOUGHT THE SHOW WAS OVER😩 😂😂😂SUCKER 4 GREEN OUT NOW!!!LINK IN BIO‼️ EVERYONE GO WATCH‼️” she captioned the post.
Tay’s claims comes after her father denied the abuse allegations and the claim that he faked her death last week. “The person who is responsible for that Instagram post, as well as anyone repeating the completely false and libelous accusation within it, are virtually certain to become defendants in a defamation lawsuit,” Christopher said in a statement to TMZ. “Everything stated is 100% false, and I trust that this should be obvious to anyone who knows me or the long history of absurd and untrue statements made by the various people who have controlled the Instagram account,” he added.
Around the same time, Tay shared a photo of her father to her Instagram story with the caption, “My abusive racist misogynistic woman beating father faked my death.” A second post shows somebody’s hands (seemingly Tay’s) on a passport. Tay has not independently spoken out about the latest accusations against her father.
Shortly after the fake death announcement about Tay went public, the talented star confirmed she was alive, in a statement. “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,” she told TMZ via her family on August 10. “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.”