As if last week’s death hoax never happened, Lil Tay’s mom Angela Tian appears excited to announce that her career—oops, I mean her daughter’s career—should be getting back on track any moment now. It sounds like any minute now we should expect more confounding videos of the teenager shouting obscenities and tossing hundos at her haters, while her mother sits neglectfully in the background…
Angela Tian’s attorneys, Lorne MacLean, K.C., and Fraser MacLean, told TMZ Friday that Lil Tay’s father, Christopher Hope, has been ordered to pay Tian $275,000 in back child support. The money reportedly covers Lil Tay’s expenses dating back to 2014. They said Hope will also pay monthly child support for Lil Tay, who is 14 years old, moving forward.
Tian’s lawyers also claim that she now has “sole decision-making power” over Lil Tay’s life and career. While Tay is currently based in Vancouver—thanks to a a court order her dad sought in 2018 in an effort to get Tay back into a semblance of normal childhood—she will now be primarily living with her mother, who has court authorization to relocate Tay wherever she’d like. And if Tian’s past is any prediction of future performance, I’d wager that we’ll see her shlepping Tay back to Los Angeles, so the teen can amass more clout.
As TMZ phrases it, Tien’s lawyers say the new court orders will “help Tay advance her career.” Again, we are talking about a 14-year-old child who started making content when she was 9—which sounds a bit less like a “career” and more like early childhood exploitation. But never mind unsettling working conditions for a child: Tien tells TMZ she’s thrilled with this victory in the ongoing custody battle, which has put her family “in a constant state of severe depression.” Tien added that she’s relieved Hope’s “disgusting financial motivation” will no longer plague the family, though I think someone else’s “disgusting financial motivation” revealed itself long ago. (Hope told TMZ he had no comment on the matter.)
“I have been financially ruined fighting for my daughter’s rights and freedom which should have never been taken away to begin with,” Tien told TMZ. “We have won our case in court, and my children and I can finally move on from this nightmare. My daughter can pursue and achieve her dreams on her own terms, and we are finally a happy family again, together.”
It’s highly debatable whether Lil Tay’s “rights and freedom” will be reinstated by her mother, who seems hellbent on making her daughter an influencer. As we can infer from the not-so-happy endings of most child stars manipulated by their parents into working at a young age, I imagine this won’t end well for Lil Tay. But maybe she’ll wind up in the care of someone who has her best interests at heart someday soon…