Lil Tay is alive, living with her mom after custody, child support battle in Canada
Viral teen influencer and rapper Lil Tay, whose Instagram account announced her death earlier this month in a since-deleted post, is alive.
Lawyers for her mother, Angela Tian, provided an update on the family's ongoing child support battle in a statement to USA TODAY Friday. The Vancouver-based law firm MacLean Law "successfully obtained orders for our client that have enabled her daughter to advance her career," according to family lawyers Lorne MacLean, K.C., and Fraser MacLean.
Her mother obtained retroactive child support as well as ongoing monthly child support for Lil Tay — referred to as Tay Tian by her mother and lawyers — from Lil Tay's father, according to the law firm. They said Angela Tian was also awarded "sole day-to-day and final decision-making powers and responsibilities in the best interests of Tay Tian" as well as the ability to sign contracts. Lil Tay's primary residence will be with her mother, and the two are able to relocate outside of Vancouver, according to the MacLeans.
USA TODAY has reached out to a lawyer representing Lil Tay's father, Christopher Hope, for a statement.
Lil Tay's Instagram account also shared the law firm's statement on Friday.
Lil Tay's family says death announcement was result of a hack: report
"Tay's family" reportedly said in a statement to TMZ that her Instagram account "was compromised by a 3rd party," resulting in the post announcing her death. USA TODAY has reached out to Meta to ask whether a hack was reported by the owner of Lil Tay's account.
On Aug. 9, a post appeared on Lil Tay's verified Instagram account sharing "the devastating news of our beloved Claire's sudden and tragic passing." The unsigned statement did not include a date or cause of death. It also claimed that her brother had died.
Lil Tay went viral in 2018 with several videos of her flashing wads of cash while seated in fancy cars and doing house tours. She self-labeled as the "youngest flexer" and now has more than 3 million followers on Instagram.
"People think it's funny, I guess, cause I'm 9 years old and I've accomplished so much," she told ABC News journalist Juju Chang on "Good Morning America" in May 2018. "I'm the youngest flexer. I can do anything I like. If they don’t believe me, I don't care."
Her mom, who was simply identified as Angie, appeared with her daughter in the GMA segment.
She also slammed critics who claimed she was being exploited by her family. "No one is forcing me to do this," she said. "This is my decision. I am happy with what I am doing."
The young influencer had gone silent on her Instagram feed in recent years, with the most recent photos on her account from June 2018. Before the announcement of her death, the most recent post on her account was mourning the death of another young star, rapper XXXTentacion.
What happened to Lil Tay:Everything we know so far
Contributing: Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY
