Tae Heckard (Born: April 14, 1978; Aged: 46) is a South Korean actress, social media star, former model, and the ex-girlfriend of Stefon Diggs, the NFL wide receiver. She is also the ex-wife of basketball player Brandon Byron, with whom she shares a son.
Tae was born in South Korea, where she stayed till age five before moving to the United States with her family. She completed her academic journey in America and currently works in the entertainment industry. Though she is several years older than Stefon, she dated the football star for several years before they called it quits.
Summary of Tae Heckard’s Biography
- Full Name: Lashontae Heckard
- Nickname: La’Shontae
- Gender: Female
- Date of Birth: April 14, 1978
- Tae Heckard’s Age: 46 years old
- Ethnicity: Mixed
- Nationality: South Korean
- Zodiac Sign: Aries
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Religion: Christianity
- Marital Status: Divorced
- Tae Heckard’s ex-Husband: Brandon Byron Jennings (ex-husband)
- Tae Heckard’s Children: Deuce Jennings (with ex-husband, Brandon Byron Jennings)
- Tae Heckard’s Height in Inches: 5 feet 5 inches
- Tae Heckard’s Height in Centimetres: 165 cm
- Tae Heckard’s Weight: 61 kg
- Tae Heckard’s Net Worth: $4 million
- Famous For: Being the ex-girlfriend of Stefon Diggs
- Tae Heckard’s Instagram: @lashontae
- Twitter: @taeheckard
How Old is Tae Heckard?
Tae Heckard’s current age is listed as 46 as the actress cum social media personality’s date of birth reads the 14th of April 1978. Lashontae Heckard, as her given name says, was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, which is an indication of her South Korean nationality. However, Tae’s ethnic background is listed as Mixed.
Also known by the alias La’Shontae, Heckard is the daughter of an insurance agent whose name has never been mentioned in the public space. Her mum’s name is equally not known, but according to reports, she works and earns a living as a lawyer. The actress is said to be the only child born to her parents.
Though she spent the earliest part of her formative years in South Korea, Heckard relocated to the United States alongside her family at the age of five. The budding thespian took advantage of the opportunities the US had to offer by joining an acting class at age seven. Besides, she developed a healthy dose of interest in acting by tagging along with her mum to watch movies and TV shows.
By the time she started primary school, Tae Heckard was ready to join her school’s drama club. After excelling in elementary school, the up-and-coming actress took her acting talent to high school. Though the name of her high school has never been mentioned, we were told that she took her acting talent there and equally did excellently well appearing in several school plays before her graduation.
When the time came for Heckard to go for higher academic qualifications, she chose to pitch her tent with Stephen F. Austin State University Nacogdoches, Texas.
How Did Tae Heckard and Stefon Diggs Start Dating?
According to reports from different sources, Tae Heckard and football wide receiver Stefon Diggs kick-started their relationship sometime in 2019. Nothing much was reported about the onset of their dalliance, but we were told that the South Korean-born actress relocated to Buffalo just to be close to her love interest.
While their relationship lasted, Stefon seemed to be the taciturn type that never brought the details of his love life to the public arena. Many have reasoned that it may well be due to the fact that he was dating a much older woman – Sefon is 30 while Tae is all of 46, however, this claim was never substantiated.
The story is different for the actress and social media star who was all hearts towards the footballer on social media platforms. She didn’t miss a single opportunity to flaunt Stefon’s love for her on the internet space. Tae wears an earring designed with the football star’s name, her neck is always adorned with a chain sporting the number 14, which is Digg’s jersey number.
The fact that Stefon never shared any info or pictures of Tae Heckard continued to amaze fans who sought to know the reason behind it. Even with all the questions asked, the NFL star never made any attempt to clarify things. Rather, it was Tae who didn’t seem to be bothered that she wasn’t appearing in her boyfriend’s news feeds that still came up to explain.
According to the actress, Stefon’s lack of communication on the internet space may be in a bid to keep his professional life apart from his personal life. He is simply trying his best to keep things under wraps, she said. Though this may sound true as many celebrities tow the same path, it was not strong enough to convince fans. Many have since concluded that even Heckard was not totally sure of why her boyfriend never bothered to mention her.
Who is Tae Heckard’s Ex-boyfriend, Stefon Diggs?
As earlier mentioned, Diggs is an American football star currently with the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League as a wide receiver. Born on the 29th of November 1993, Diggs is an Alexandria, Virginia native but spent his formative years in Maryland.
The son of Aron and Stephanie Diggs, Stefon grew up alongside two brothers, Darez and Trevon Diggs, who are also football stars. He started playing football at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School located in Montgomery County, Maryland, where he equally ran track.
The football star later went to the University of Maryland, College Park, with a sports scholarship. His escapades as a collegiate football player led to his NFL draft in 2015 when he was picked by the Minnesota Vikings. After five successful seasons with the Vikings, Diggs was traded to the team of the Buffalo Bills in 2020.
Stefon Once Made a Public Appearance with Tae
The only time that the Buffalo Bills recorded a public appearance with Tae Heckard was during the Dallas Cowboys playoff match against the San Francisco 49ers at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The NFL wide receiver took Tae along with him to the match as his brother, Trevon Diggs, would be playing as a cornerback for the Cowboys.
Before long, pictures that were taken at the match went viral as Stefon was spotted sitting with Heckard. This got the tabloids into a reporting frenzy, trying to figure out the identity of the lady with Stefon. Tae made things easy for everybody when she took to her Insta Stories to let the whole world know that she was the one, but sadly, her boyfriend never reciprocated the gesture to date.
The couple is reported to have gone their separate ways, but we were not told exactly when they decided to call it quits with their relationship or exactly what led to their split.
Tae Heckard was Formerly Married
Even before Stefon Diggs came into her life, Tae Heckard was formerly married to American basketball star Byron Jennings. The duo initially kept their relationship a secret for a couple of years before they announced it in 2014 after they had been observed by fans on several occasions.
The following year 2015, the celebrity duo had a secret wedding with just family and their closest friends in attendance. The couple became parents the same year, but their union hit the rocks after the birth of their son.
With that said, we must also acknowledge the fact that Brandon was previously engaged to American vocalist Teyana Meshay Jacqueli Shumpert. Their engagement was announced in 2013, and the basketball star called it off after he was caught cheating on his fiancée with Tae.
She Had a Child with Her Ex-Husband
On the 5th of November 2015, Tae Heckard and Brandon welcomed the only child of their union, Legend Truth Jennings. From what is obvious, the boy is growing up under the watch of his mother as the internet star is forever sharing stuff about the boy through her social media handles.
Legend featured a lot in Tae’s relationship with Stefon. He lived with his mom and Stefon in the player’s Buffalo home while their relationship lasted. The actress cum social media star would dress her son in a Diggs jersey, and the youngster also forged a great bond with the footballer.
Stefon’s daughter, Nova, who the NFL player had with his former girlfriend, Tyler Marie, was also close to Legend.
Stefon Diggs Double Action Involving Tae and Another Lady
Reports went viral last Valentine’s Day that the Buffalo Bills wide receiver hooked up with both Tea Heckard and his new girlfriend, model Alesha Rene in the same hotel. Reports from Radar Online described the footballer’s escapade as a “double action”
The Game actress, who has always been vocal about her relationship with Stefon, was the first to take to her Insta Stories to showcase an exquisitely decked-out hotel room with beautiful floors and walkways decorated with roses and rose petals leading to its bedroom. There were also balloons and stringers festooning from the ceiling.
WAGS’ Unfiltered Instagram account later received a DM claiming that the football star also had his newest girlfriend, model Alesha Rene, at the same hotel at the same time. The evening described as heavily romantic, took him from one woman’s room to the other.
The source also took pains to clarify that the three were not together, thus, it wasn’t a threesome. Stefon still managed to get intimate with the two women but it was done separately.
In a bid to elucidate, the “Direct Message” said Stefon took Alesha to allthatmojo in Vegas and later to Miami but also had Tea Heckard at the Pro Bowl game; she was sitting with his family and friends. During his time in Atlanta, the player was with several women; however, he spent his last night with Alesha and flew her down to Los Angeles to book her into the hotel where Tae was already staying. This way, Stefon got to see both women without having to go far.
The ensuing speculations did not elicit any response from Stefon, Tae, and Alesha. Thus, it is difficult to say exactly what transpired between the three. Without any forthcoming explanations, the speculations died a natural death, and from what is obvious, both Tae and Diggs have moved on with their lives.
What Does Stefon Diggs’ Ex-girlfriend Do for a Living?
The South Koran lady is listed as an actress, a former model, and a social media star.
Following her high school graduation in 1996, Tae Heckard didn’t start pursuing a university degree immediately. Rather, the budding actress took some time out to hone her acting skills by appearing in cameos while getting sustenance from odd jobs on the side.
She did this for the ensuing seven years until 2003, when she made her big screen debut on the set of the short movie, ‘Busta Rhymes & Mariah Carey Feat. Flipmode Squad: I know what you want;” she played the Female Interest. Before the year ran out, we saw Tae in Dru Hill: I Love You as Nokio’s Girlfriend.
In 2006, she shared the screen with movie greats like Evan Ross, T.I., and Lauren London in the popular comedic crime movie “ATL”. In the production, which revolved around graduating high school students preparing for life after graduation, Tae appeared in a starring role.
2007, she joined the cast of Ne-Yo’s “Because of You” as a Girl at the Club. In 2012, the actress was featured in the Danielle L. Ross-directed comedy movie, “Back Then,” as Rochelle Davis. The 2014 romantic comedy film, “Getting Even,” by Beverly Orozco, featured Tae as Carmen Boti. She was also seen in a couple of episodes of the comedy series called “#BlackAF” playing peaches.
Tae Heckard’s best-known production so far is the romantic comedy series known as “The Game”. She starred in several episodes of the series, which premiered in 2006 and lasted till 2015. On the set of the TV series, Tae appeared alongside the likes of Hosea Chanchez, Coby Bell, and Wendy Raquel Robinson. The plot was more like the actress’ real life as it centered on some ladies who were dating professional football players. The series proved to be highly successful, sweeping five awards and becoming a nominee for another five.
Before she ventured into the movie world, it was reported that Tae served in the United States Army Reserves for a period of four years.
She is on Social Media
As mentioned earlier, Tae Heckard also forged a career path in the internet space as a social media personality. Her presence can be felt on both Twitter and Instagram.
On the Twitter platform, the internet star can be located @taeheckard. Tae launched her handle in April 2009, and to date, she has recorded 55.2K Tweets and still counting. Her followers on Twitter came to 155k at the last count, and she is following 139 people. The message on her Twitter profile reads, “Goofball, Genius, Witty, and Hilarious. Oh yea, I act too.”
Tae’s username on Instagram is @lashontae, she inundates her handle with hilarious photos shot and videos of her day-to-day life including images of her son and the current man in her life. She is doing far better on IG, with 952K followers and 761 posts.