Woman Vandalizes and Steals From Pianist Andrew Shoe, Internet Sleuths Uncover Her Identity

The Gist:

• Andrew Shoe is a young and talented pianist who posts TikTok videos of himself playing live music.
• On Sept. 25, 2023, a woman damaged Andrew's piano and stole money from him.
• Internet sleuths tracked the woman down and her name is Shauntae Heard.

In many ways, social media has been a great way to lift up young artists. One artist who started taking advantage of TikTok visibility is pianist Andrew Shoe, who started posting videos of himself playing piano on the street in September 2022. While he doesn’t post too frequently, his videos tend to highlight what happens when random passersby notice and enjoy his music.

But on Sept. 25, 2023, Andrew posted a video of a woman, now known as Shauntae Heard, who tried to mess with him, likely for clout. But Shauntae’s clout chasing led her down a dark path of internet folks ready to get their revenge. So, what really happened and what’s the controversy with Shauntae Heard?

Less than a day after posting his now-viral video, internet sleuths had already uncovered Shauntae’s identity using just her image in the video. Basically, in the first bit of the video, Shauntae bangs on Andrew’s piano as her friends watch, but they all quickly leave. Andrew mentions that stuff like this happens all the time, so he just kept on playing.

However, when he was playing his last song of the night, a wonderful rendition of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” Shauntae and her friends came back. This time, Shauntae banged on the piano again, but it completely collapsed. Keyboards are expensive, so it’s possible that she scratched it up and caused some damage. This also forced Andrew to stop his performance, which others nearby were enjoying.

While this all went down, Shauntae’s friends giggled in the distance, and as she said a half-hearted “sorry,” she reached down and grabbed some money from Andrew’s pot. As if the vandalism wasn’t enough, she just had to steal from Andrew, a working artist, as well. But luckily, the video ends on a high note (no pun intended).

People passing by and onlookers stepped in to help Andrew clean up his piano. When he told them that Shauntae also stole money, they booed her and one man even gave Andrew a generous tip. “Shoutout to the guy that tipped me after and all of the people that came and helped me out after seeing what happened,” Andrew said at the end of the viral clip. “It really restores my faith in humanity.”

The controversy doesn’t end with Andrew’s video. Internet sleuths were understandably furious on his behalf, so they put their skills to the test and found out that the person who harassed Andrew was none other than Tommanesha Shauntae Heard, a young Georgia resident who had previously been arrested in November 2022 for theft and fraud.

TikTokers found her account, @atl.minit, and others found various Facebook and Instagram accounts that have since been deactivated. People were allegedly harassing Shauntae and her family online, which is likely why the accounts have since been removed. So, Shauntae posted a public apology:

“I’m sorry for everyone that has seen the viral video,” she wrote on Facebook and Instagram. “I have took accountability for my actions. I know it was wrong and ignorant of me but please keep my family out of it.

“Y’all are pathetic the way y’all commenting under my post y’all can’t tell me how I feel or what I did y’all should get a life and leave me alone y’all are grown and have nothing else to do I know what I did and again I know that it was wrong I don’t need y’all people in my comments telling me how y’all feel cause it really don’t matter about how y’all feel about anything it’s up to the person and we already talked and we are good so f--k y’all.”

But instead of focusing on Shauntae’s wrongs, let’s focus on Andrew’s rights! He handled the situation with grace, and as a working musician, he can hopefully now use this complicated experience for the best. We can’t wait to see what music he makes next.