Rapper Lil Tay’s team say open-heart surgery was “a great success”, fans sceptical following death hoax

Rapper Lil Tay’s team have said her open-heart surgery was “a great success”, although fans are sceptical following last year’s death hoax.

On Thursday (September 12), an ultrasound of her heart was shared on her Instagram account. The post shared that “Tay has been diagnosed with a life-threatening heart tumor”.

However, fans recalled the death hoax Tay was involved in last year and were unsure if her illness was genuine. Rumours of the musician’s death first spread back in August 2023, when it was reported that the adolescent viral star had died at the age of 14, per Hot New Hip Hop.

While the announcement has been met with messages of support, many are unsure if it’s a similar stunt. Some replied to the clip of Tay in the hospital shared on X/Twitter and questioned if she had new material coming soon. Her account has since been made private.

In 2023, fans were shocked when a message seemingly from her family appeared to confirm her passing. “It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of our beloved Claire’s sudden and tragic passing,” it read. “We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain.”

The statement went on to claim that Lil Tay’s older brother Jason Tian had also passed away, adding that both deaths were “still under investigation”. The message was later removed from Instagram, and TMZ later reported that Lil Tay and her brother were still alive, and her social media account had been hacked.

“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 the outlet.

She went on to accuse others of being involved, claims both her manager and father denied.

Former manager Tsang told the New York Post he didn’t believe “anything that they say about the hacking”, while her father told TMZ: “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.”