When a statement announcing the sudden death of Lil Tay, a 15-year-old viral rapper who rose to fame as a nine-year-old on Instagram, was posted to her account earlier this week, it led to an outpouring of grief and sorrow. But that has given way to confusion and relief in equal measure, after TMZ reported that she is now very much alive. In a statement from Tay’s family, she said: “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.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Lil Tay rose to fame as the “World’s Youngest Flexer” who rapped and showed off a lavish lifestyle across social media aged just nine, garnering 3.2m followers on Instagram. However, the account went dormant in 2018 after a video was posted online in which she appeared to be coached by someone off-camera, whom many suspected was her brother Jason. Tay was also reportedly caught in the middle of a custody battle between her parents, Angela Tian and Christopher Hope, which had been going on in court since about 2018, around the same time the influencer’s account went dormant. The account resumed briefly that October with bizarre and concerning activity, including a video of the girl crying that was posted and then taken down. The posts were later scrubbed, but led to allegations of abuse by her father, amid the custody dispute. In 2021, activity briefly restarted on the account, with several posts accusing Christopher Hope of physical and mental abuse and of stealing all of Lil Tay’s money. Hope denied the allegations and sent a cease and desist letter to Instagram. An unsigned statement posted to the account on Wednesday said the star’s death at 15 was “sudden and tragic” and “entirely unexpected”. It also said her older brother, Jason Tian, who had at one point been in control of her account, had also died, and that both deaths were under investigation. Both Lil Tay’s father and former manager had refused to confirm or deny her death, with the latter calling for “cautious consideration” in handling the news. Speaking to Insider, her father, Christopher Hope, declined to comment on the Instagram post and declined to answer whether his daughter was alive. Her former manager, Harry Tsang, also declined to confirm or deny her death. “Given the complexities of the current circumstances, I am at a point where I cannot definitively confirm or dismiss the legitimacy of the statement issued by the family,” Tsang told Insider on Wednesday. In a follow-up 24 hours later, Tay was thanking Meta for helping to get her Instagram account back, and had removed the fake death statement. She said: “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'.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Sean Hannity also compared Donald Trump to Joe Biden and Former United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton

‘Today’ host Hoda Kotb has shared secret signal with her two daughters, Haley and Hope, during Thanksgiving Day Parade

Elton John performed at Glastonbury last night and people were very excited. Addressing the huge crowd at the Pyramid stage as he took to the stage, the headline star said: "I never thought I’d play Glastonbury and here I am. It’s a very special and emotional night for me as it may be my last ever show in England, so I better play well and entertain you as you’ve been standing there so long." Before his performance, there were rumours he would bring out guests to perform with him, and fans wondered if he would bring Britney Spears given they have a song together, Hold Me Closer. But she was a no-show. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Elton brought out Jacob Lusk as guest number one. He was followed by Stephen Sanchez as the second guest, and then Brandon Flowers who performed the Britney hit with Elton. Rina Sawayama was the fourth and final singer that Elton brought out. People on social media raged about Britney's absence: You can't satisfy everyone. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

'Kelly Preston will always be the only woman for him. It's sad, but he's essentially taken a vow of celibacy for the rest of his life,' said a source

Some reports claimed that Cristiano was 'fed up' with Georgina because of the amount of time she spent spending money in a Riyadh shopping mall

Roseanne Barr is facing major criticism after making a 'sarcastic' comment on a podcast relating to the Holocaust - but no one is seeing the funny side. Despite Barr being Jewish herself, listeners of the This Past Weekend podcast found the remarks in relation to political propaganda distasteful. "The truth is that Biden got 81 million votes by winning 36 counties. And that is just incredible. It really, really is", she began. Barr then continued: “And that is the truth. And nobody died in the Holocaust, either. That’s the truth. It should happen. Six million Jews should die right now ’cause they cause all the problems in the world. But it never happened." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The canceled show is one of the many projects abandoned by a production company as the writers in Hollywood are currently on strike

Janelle Monáe has said that they’re “much happier” being topless after posing for a new cover shoot. The singer and actor posed for Rolling Stone’s Pride issue after appearing to explore a more sexually liberal style in 2023 with a series of album promos. Monáe, who uses they/them pronouns, announced their new album, The Age of Pleasure, with a teaser clip of the NSFW video which sees them emerging from a pool wearing a translucent skin-tight t-shirt with the word “Pleasure” written across the front. The performer's bare breasts could be seen through the wet t-shirt and Monáe says it’s all part of being a “free-ass mother****er”. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “I’m much happier when my titties are out, and I can run around free,” Monáe told Rolling Stone. The singer also posted the new album artwork for The Age of Pleasure which sees her swimming topless underwater. Monáe described the album as their “most sensual and indulgent album yet”, saying: “Most people don’t understand what’s going on in my brain. Community has been so helpful to me; it’s beautiful that I have a title called The Age of Pleasure because it actually re-centers me. “It’s not about an album anymore. I’ve changed my whole f–king lifestyle.” The singer added: “I want things to feel so true to my life … I used to consider myself a futurist. I know what that means, to obsess about the next thing. A present tourist is what I’m calling myself right now. I’m actively focusing on being present. “This album is not about a fight,” they shared. “It’s about living in an oasis created by us for us. Even with everything going on in the world, this is our moment to breathe together, unapologetically taking this beat to enjoy — to hurry up and live.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Celebrities having birthdays during the week of May 28-June 3 include singer Brandi Carlile, rapper DMC of Run-DMC and TV journalist Anderson Cooper

Calling a grandparent 'Grandmother' or 'Grandfather' is so played out.

Jenna Bush Hager said that the accident was so funny that her children burst out laughing on seeing what had happened