By Joseph Loftus

Lil Tay has stressed that she is alive and well after rumours claimed she had died.

Claims about the rapper and her brother's deaths started to circulate this morning, but she has since shut them down. At the time, her family refused to comment on the incident, as tributes from across the globe poured in for the 14-year-old star. Now, it appears that the death was a hoax. https://twitter.com/PopBase/status/1689691213182697473 In a statement provided to TMZ, Tay wrote: "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." Lil Tay added that her Instagram was hacked, saying: "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’." The rapper was thankful to Meta for helping her get access to her accounts back. TMZ reported that after the initial reports of Lil Tay’s death emerged, they reached out to numerous police officers in the area, none of whom knew anything about the incident. Now, it makes perfect sense. The fake death post was announced earlier today and the statement said that Tay had died ‘suddenly’ along with her brother. The post also said her family is in ‘complete shock’.

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