Wikipedia

Haliey Welch

(Redirected from Hawk Tuah Girl)

Haliey Welch (/ˈheɪli/; born 2002 or 2003) is an American Internet personality. She is best known for being interviewed during a viral TikTok video posted in 2024, becoming notable for a catchphrase, hawk tuah, an onomatopoeia for spitting during oral sex, specifically, fellatio. She is also known for her podcast Talk Tuah and a cryptocurrency coin which faced criticism following release.[1]

Haliey Welch
Welch in November 2024
Born2002 or 2003 (age 21–22)
Other namesHawk Tuah Girl
OccupationInternet personality
Years active2024–present
Known forViral interview and catchphrase
TikTok information
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Followers1.8 million
Instagram information
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Followers2.6 million
Last updated: 29 December 2024

Early and personal life

Welch is from Belfast, Tennessee, and worked in a bedspring factory prior to internet fame. She currently lives with her grandmother in Nashville, Tennessee.[2]

Career

Hawk tuah

External videos
  Interview with Haliey Welch, by Tim & Dee TV, published 24 June 2024.
 
Look up hawk tuah in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

On 11 June 2024, a vox pop YouTube channel, Tim & Dee TV owned by Tim Dickerson and DeArius Marlow, released a video featuring an interview with Haliey Welch in the Broadway district of Nashville, Tennessee, United States.[3] Welch and another woman approached Dickerson and Marlow and asked to be interviewed.[3][4] The interview began with what Dickerson and Marlow considered tamer questions, such as, "What makes you wifey material?"[3][4] Eventually, Dickerson and Marlow stated, Welch encouraged Marlow to "spice up the questions".[3][4] Marlow responded by asking, "What's one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?" Welch's reply, in a strong Southern accent was, "You gotta give 'em that 'hawk tuah'[a] and spit on that thang", referring to spitting on someone's penis as a form of fellatio, ostensibly for lubricatory purposes.[6][7]

The next day, Marlow uploaded the clip to TikTok and almost immediately other accounts across social media began reposting the video after scrubbing off the "Tim and Dee TV" watermark.[3] Dickerson and Marlow estimated that they filed at least fifty copyright claims in the days after they first published the clip.[3] The original video had gone viral, receiving millions of views across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, spawning remixes and remakes of the original audio, and gaining Welch the nickname Hawk Tuah Girl.[8] The video and the phrase turned into a meme.[9]

Popularity

Initially, Welch was mortified that her clip had gone so viral. "The first week of it, I was so embarrassed," Welch said. "I wouldn't come out of my house. I went to work, but that's about it. Other than that, I didn't go anywhere. But I went from being embarrassed to living in the moment." She had seen vendors hawking unofficial regalia of her viral moment and decided to capitalize on the moment herself. "If everyone else is making money off of it, I might as well, too."[10] Ultimately, Welch created an Instagram account and soon gained a sizable social media followership and media attention.[11] Dickerson and Marlow indicated they were happy for Welch but were upset for not receiving credit for Welch's fame.[3]

She quit her job at the bed spring factory on 27 June 2024,[10] and partnered with a local apparel brand to begin selling Hawk Tuah merchandise, earning over $65,000 within a couple of weeks.[12][13] On 29 June, Welch joined Zach Bryan on stage during his concert in Nashville, Tennessee, to perform Bryan's song 'Revival'.[14] A few days later, Welch joined Shaquille O'Neal during his DJ set in Nashville.[15] On 2 July, Welch signed for representation with The Penthouse.[16][17] On 15 August, she threw the ceremonial first pitch of a New York Mets game,[18]

Talk Tuah

Welch premiered a podcast with Jake Paul's company Betr, Talk Tuah, in September 2024.[19][20][21][22] It was ranked number five in Spotify's top podcasts charts shortly after release.[23]

The podcast has featured guests from the start; the first episode featuring comedian Whitney Cummings.[19] From there, the show has featured a guest on almost every episode, including rapper and singer-songwriter Wiz Khalifa, business mogul Mark Cuban, and Dance Moms star JoJo Siwa.

In September 2024, a fake screenshot of an NPR article went viral on Twitter, claiming that former President Donald Trump had canceled a guest appearance on the podcast because of an assassination attempt in Florida.[24]

Since October 2024, a self-described "companion podcast" titled 'Talking Talk Tuah' has been posted weekly, in which hosts Cam George and Peter Ditzler review Talk Tuah and other events involving Haliey Welch.[25] The podcast's creation has no association with Welch, though other guests have featured on the podcast, including Brent Weinbach.[26]

In November 2024, a fake screenshot of a CNN article went viral on Instagram, claiming that more than 75,000 of the votes counted in the 2024 United States presidential election were write-ins for 'Hawk Tuah' and 'Talk Tuah'.[27]

Other ventures

On 14 November, Welch released a dating advice app, Pookie Tools. To build the app, Welch partnered with Ben Ganz, founder of Ultimate AI Studio, an AI automation platform.[28]

Meme coin scandal

In December 2024, Welch released a cryptocurrency meme coin on Solana called $HAWK token. The coin reached a market capitalization of nearly $500 million before plummeting to $25 million,[29] with at least one investor filing a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[30] This led to Welch and her team being accused of performing a pump-and-dump scheme[1] and the coin being accused of being a rug pull scam, including by cryptocurrency journalist Coffeezilla, who also accused Welch and her team of insider trading.[31][32][33] Welch's team has denied the accusations.[34]

Later that month, a lawsuit was filed against the $HAWK creators in the United States district court in New York for unlawfully promoting and selling cryptocurrency that was allegedly never properly registered.[35] Welch, who was not named in the suit, responded to the litigation, saying that she "take[s] this situation extremely seriously" and pledging to be "fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting" the legal parties involved.[36]

Notes

  1. ^ /ˌhɔːk ˈtuːə/ ⓘ HAWK TOO-ə
    While the meme is usually pronounced /ˌhɔːk ˈtuːə/, the actual noise Welch made is better represented as a narrow phonetic transcription by [ˌhɔkʰ ˈtʼɤ̂ː].[5]

References

  1. ^ a b McMahon, Liv (5 December 2024). "Online star Hawk Tuah girl faces crypto coin criticism". BBC. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  2. ^ Hurt, Melonee (3 July 2024). "Haliey Welch aka the 'Hawk Tuah' girl learns firsthand what it means to go viral". The Tennessean. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Bernstein, Joseph (3 July 2024). "The Guys Behind 'Hawk Tuah Girl' Would Like a Little Credit". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Bernstein, Jonathan (4 July 2024). "The Men Who Filmed 'Hawk Tuah' Think They Should Be Famous, Too". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  5. ^ Aleksic, Adam (3 October 2024). This is still funny #linguistics #language #phonology #hawktuah – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Abad-Santos, Alex (28 June 2024). "Hawk Tuah Girl, explained by straight dudes". Vox. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  7. ^ Murphy, Chris (3 July 2024). "The Hawk Tuah Girl: Everything You Need (and Absolutely Don't Need) to Know". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  8. ^ Lee, Cosine (28 June 2024). "Who's the 'hawk tuah' girl Howard Stern calls 'every father's worst nightmare'?". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  9. ^ Ellwood, Mark (11 July 2024). "'Hawk Tuah Girl' found a familiar path to viral fame. What happens now?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  10. ^ a b Hurt, Melonee (3 July 2024). "Who is 'Hawk Tuah' girl: Meet Haliey Welch and her take on going viral". The Tennessean. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  11. ^ Colyar, Brock (18 July 2024). "Hawk Tuah Takes Long Island". The Cut. Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  12. ^ Murray, Conor. "'Hawk Tuah' Meme Explained: How Woman In Viral Interview Made A Reported $65,000 And Prompted TikTok Craze". Forbes. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  13. ^ Dickson, Ej (26 June 2024). "Hawk Tuah Girl Has Already Sold at Least $65,000 Worth of Merch". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  14. ^ Haring, Bruce (30 June 2024). "Country Star Zach Bryan Brings Down The House With Hawk Tuah Girl Cameo". Deadline. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  15. ^ Cowen, Trace William. "'Hawk Tuah' Star Haliey Welch Joins Shaq for DJ Set at Jon Bon Jovi's Nashville Bar". Complex. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  16. ^ Vlessing, Etan (2 July 2024). ""Hawk Tuah Girl" Hailey Welch Finds Representation". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  17. ^ McCarty, Andrew (2 July 2024). "The 'Hawk Tuah Girl' Has Officially Signed With Hollywood Agent". The Spun. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  18. ^ Blistein, Jon (16 August 2024). "Hawk Tuah Girl's First Pitch at a Mets Game Got Everyone Unnecessarily Mad". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  19. ^ a b Quah, Nicholas (12 September 2024). "So You Listened to the Talk Tuah Pod …". Vulture. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  20. ^ Gajewski, Ryan (3 September 2024). "Hawk Tuah Girl Haliey Welch to Launch Podcast 'Talk Tuah' From Jake Paul's Media Company". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  21. ^ Dailey, Hannah (3 September 2024). "From 'Hawk Tuah' to 'Talk Tuah': Haliey Welch Nabs Podcast Gig". Billboard. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  22. ^ Zwiezen, Zack (4 September 2024). "Hawk Tuah Girl Launching Podcast With Jake Paul's Sports Betting Company". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 28 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  23. ^ "The 'Hawk Tuah' Creator's Podcast Ranks No. 5 On Spotify—Here's How She Kept The Meme Going For Months". Forbes. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  24. ^ Art, Pop Culture & (17 September 2024). "Donald Trump cancels appearance on Hawk Tuah Girl's podcast? Rumor debunked". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 2 October 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  25. ^ "Talking Talk Tuah". YouTube. 13 December 2024.
  26. ^ "Talking Talk Tuah: Episode Eight (w/ Brent Weinbach)". YouTube. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  27. ^ Ahmed, Sofia. "CNN didn't report 'Hawk Tuah,' 'Talk Tuah' got 75,000 votes". @politifact. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  28. ^ Forristal, Lauren (14 November 2024). "'Hawk Tuah' girl launches Pookie Tools, an AI-powered dating advice app, and it's fine?". TechCrunch. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  29. ^ "'Hawk Tuah' Creator Haliey Welch Criticized For Memecoin Launch After Price Crashes". Forbes. 5 December 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  30. ^ "Sell that thang: Hawk Tuah girl faces 'pump and dump' allegations as crypto coin collapses hours after launch". The Independent. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  31. ^ McMahon, Liv (6 December 2024). "Online star Hawk Tuah girl faces crypto coin criticism". BBC News. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  32. ^ Shackleton, Niamh (5 December 2024). "People are calling for Hawk Tuah Girl to be jailed after she launches cryptocurrency that everyone lost their money on". UNILAD. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  33. ^ Art, Pop Culture & (5 December 2024). "Coffeezilla confronts Hawk Tuah Girl over alleged $HAWK meme coin rug pull and insider trading". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  34. ^ "'Hawk tuah girl' Haliey Welch's crypto launch draws scrutiny". NBC News. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  35. ^ "Investors Sue Creators of Hawk Tuah Meme Coin for Alleged Securities Violations After 90% Price Drop". Yahoo! Finance. 20 December 2024. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  36. ^ Ford, Lily (20 December 2024). "Hailey Welch, A.K.A. "Hawk Tuah Girl," Responds After Lawsuit Filed Over Meme Coin Crypto Crash". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
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