A violinist has hit back at her childhood bully who daringly sent a message asking her to perform for free at her upcoming wedding.
Tiffany Moore, 31, a professional musician who has been performing at events for 19 years, was horrified to get a random message from the woman who tormented her when they were kids.
While growing up together in the same town, Moore says her days at elementary and middle school were often a struggle while feeling overwhelmed from nasty comments, and cruel behavior which left her feeling isolated and full of self-doubt.
Now years later, she felt the trauma creep back in a few weeks ago when she got a random message from the bully who had a special request.
‘Hey girl!!!!’ her opening message read. ‘I’m getting MARRIED and totally want you to play violin for my ceremony in October ~ it would be the perfect gift PLUS you could use photos and videos to build your performance portfolio! Win win!’
Tiffany Moore is a professional wedding violinist for going on 19 years and has been building up her reputation since she was just 12 years old
The audacity of the message shocked the performer, with the bully seeming to have forgotten the context of their relationship all those years ago.
The musician was quick to shut her former tormentor down but in a stunning twist, the wedding was called off anyway after the groom-to-be got sent their exchange.
Moore told DailyMail.com the bullying began back when they were kids. Her bully often called her instrument choice ‘geeky,’ and described her playing as sounding ‘like a cat dying’.
‘In middle school, things got worse. She was just relentless, getting her friends to gang up on me and make fun of me or even pretend that I didn’t exist,’ Moore said.
‘Going to activities for church and school, she would tell everybody not to talk to me, and that if they so much as looked at me, she was not going to be their friend.’
This treatment led Moore to have only two friends who were younger than her and seen as ‘outcasts’ or ‘underdogs.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Moore recalled the sting she felt in the moment of reading the message.
‘When I saw that message at first, my heart sank, because I was like, “Oh no, she’s back,”‘ Moore told DailyMail.com in an interview.
‘Part of me felt like a middle-schooler again, being shunned and bullied for making music and for presenting myself in a way that people were intrigued.’
She let the message sit for 20 minutes before telling the woman, now the same age as Moore, that it was ‘bold’ of her to ask for a ‘$2,500 service’ for free.
‘You bullied me relentlessly in middle school for being in orchestra,’ she wrote.
She also hit back at the idea that performing at this wedding would be the make or break for her compendious portfolio, that’s she been building since age 12.
Moore said the bullying began back when they were kids growing up in the same church. Her bully often called her instrument choice ‘geeky,’ and described her playing as sounding ‘like a cat dying’
Moore pictured with a friend, in her school’s orchestra in their senior year
While growing up together in the same town, Moore says her days at elementary and middle school were often a struggle while feeling overwhelmed from nasty comments but pursued the violin regardless
In her reply, the woman asked if she would compromise for a discount instead, adding that she wanted to be friends ‘and leave the past behind us.’
‘I already have friends, thanks,’ Moore wrote back. ‘I don’t have time to entertain your ignorance.’
Reflecting on this part of the text conversation, Moore told DailyMail.com that she’s worked hard to establish a fee – which she often will tweak, but is put off when people expect a lower rate.
‘For family and friends, I offer to do things for free or at a reduced rate, but they never ask,’ she said.
The bully steamrolled right through Moore’s rejection and once again asked if she was available October 3 for her wedding, this time offering to pay $1,000, far less than the $2,500 Moore usually charges.
‘This is too much,’ Moore texted back. ‘I have to decline your $1,000 offer, and also refuse to work for “exposure.”‘
This was the last straw for the bully apparently, who immediately fell back into her old habits.
‘Well well well, who’s the mean girl now b*****!? Go cry about not being able to pay your bills because you’re too greedy. Besides you’re not even worth it and you suck!!!!!!’
Having found her voice, Moore decided to post their interaction online.
The bully then saw the videos which featured their conversations and was outraged, telling her she was finished and that Moore was ‘the bully’ in this situation.
She even made a vague threat about calling a lawyer, which Moore pounced on, adding ‘I’m not worried here,’ Moore texted.
Moore told DailyMail.com that once the entire string of messages was published to her Instagram, people in her comments were telling her to reach out to her bully’s fiancé.
She refused to do so, saying it ‘wasn’t my place,’ but it didn’t take long for whispers of the exchange to reach him, prompting him to reach out to Moore on Instagram via his personal account.
Moore told DailyMail.com that once the entire string of messages was published to her Instagram, people in her comments were telling her to reach out to her bully’s fiancé
Moore has found strength in friendship from acclaimed musicians Lindsey Stirling and Máiréad Nesbitt
A friend of his had sent him Moore’s videos, which was how he managed to get connected and message her.
The fiancé shared his soon-to-be-bride’s version of events, which was that the potential violinist for their wedding, a.k.a. Moore, was rude and unprofessional to her.
‘She’s being secretive and hiding things constantly,’ he wrote about Moore’s bully. ‘…I feel like she’s cheating on me too so I don’t know what to do.’
He ended up confronting his bride-to-be after a church service, and was met with an attitude of aggression Moore was familiar with.
The fiancé later messaged Moore to say she ‘lashed out like the bully she is,’ telling him things like she never loved him anyway, screenshots show.
‘She ostracized him from his friends. He hasn’t had friends in two years because she made him only spend time with her,’ Moore said in the interview.
In the midst of the blowup, the wedding was called off. The man messaged Moore to say he was grateful he found out who his partner really was.
‘You literally saved my life,’ he wrote in an Instagram message to Moore. ‘I’m gonna try to fix things with my friends.’
Moore wrote back: ‘Today is the beginning of a new chapter for you. Cheers to a fresh start, no more narcissistic relationships.’
Moore then got the man’s permission to share the screenshots of their conversation together.
Her Instagram following was quick to give the freshly single guy the pick-me-up he likely needed.
‘People in the comments were being so lovely towards him and just trying to encourage him and say, “this is the first day of the rest of your life. You have your whole life ahead of you, and someday you’re going to find someone who cherishes you,”‘ she said.
Moore also revealed, on top of enduring bullying from her peers and an assault perpetrated on her by a trusted teacher, she grew up in a tight-knit church community.
‘I wasn’t even allowed to drive. I wasn’t allowed to learn how to drive or manage my own finances. I was told what to wear, where to work, who I could hang around, where I could spend my time,’ she said.
She escaped at age 22, leaving to go live with relatives in Chicago.
With the bullying and growing up in such a restricted setting, she says she once ‘hated life so much,’ but looking back, it’s helped make her the person she is today.
She’s found allies in musicians including Lindsey Stirling and Máiréad Nesbitt, and launched her own business.
‘I’m such a big advocate for mental health because I have been in a place where I wanted to end my life,’ she said.
‘Even though I faced many terrible things at a young age and was told who to be, it feels wonderful to now have a voice and a choice in who Tiffany gets to be. I’m truly the luckiest girl in the world.’