Haliey Welch

Haliey Aliene Welch ( ; born 2003 or 2004), commonly referred to as the Hawk Tuah Girl, is an American internet personality. She became an internet meme after being interviewed in a viral 2024 TikTok video in which she used a catchphrase, hawk tuah, an onomatopoeia for spitting on a penis as a form of oral sex, specifically fellatio. She is also known for her podcast Talk Tuah and a cryptocurrency coin which faced criticism following release.

Early and personal life Welch is from Belfast, Tennessee, and worked in a bedspring factory prior to internet fame. As of 2024, she lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her paternal grandmother, who raised her. On Howie Mandel Does Stuff, a podcast hosted by Jewish-Canadian comedian Howie Mandel, Welch performed a five-minute DNA saliva test live which revealed she allegedly had 97.7% Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Welch herself claims no knowledge of her family's heritage.

Hawk tuah

On June 11, 2024, a vox pop YouTube channel, Tim & Dee TV owned by Tim Dickerson and DeArius Marlow, released a video featuring an interview with Welch in the Broadway district of Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Welch and another woman approached Dickerson and Marlow and asked to be interviewed. The interview began with what Dickerson and Marlow considered tamer questions, such as, "What makes you material?"

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. The video and the phrase turned into a meme.

Popularity Initially, Welch was mortified that her clip had gone so viral. Welch said, "The first week of it, I was so embarrassed ... 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 selling unofficial regalia of her viral moment and decided to capitalize on the moment herself. She said "If everyone else is making money off of it, I might as well, too." Dickerson and Marlow indicated they were happy for Welch but were upset for not receiving credit for Welch's fame. and partnered with a local apparel brand to begin selling Hawk Tuah merchandise, earning over $65,000 within a couple of weeks. On June 29, Welch joined Zach Bryan on stage during his concert in Nashville, Tennessee, to perform Bryan's song "Revival". A few days later, Welch joined Shaquille O'Neal during his DJ set in Nashville. On July 2, Welch signed for representation with The Penthouse. On August 15, she threw the ceremonial first pitch of a New York Mets game. On December 11, she was featured on a comedic segment of the late-night television show Jimmy Kimmel Live! In 2025, Welch announced an upcoming documentary, DocTuah, about her rise to fame.

Career Talk Tuah Welch premiered a podcast with Jake Paul's company Betr, Talk Tuah, on September 3, 2024. It has featured guests from the start; the first episode features comedian Whitney Cummings. 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.

App On November 14, 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.

Meme coin scandal

In December 2024, Welch released a cryptocurrency meme coin on Solana called $HAWK token. The meme coin reached a market capitalization of nearly $500 million before plummeting to $25 million, with at least one investor filing a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This led to Welch and her team being accused of performing a pump-and-dump scheme Welch's team has denied the accusations.

Later that month, a lawsuit was filed against the $HAWK creators in the U.S.District Court for the Eastern District of New York for unlawfully promoting and selling cryptocurrency that was allegedly never properly registered. Welch, who was not named in the suit, responded to the litigation, saying that she "take this situation extremely seriously" and pledging to be "fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting" the legal parties involved. Welch later said she only "got paid a marketing fee" for $HAWK token and never made a "dime from the coin itself."

Filmography Television Year Title Role Notes 2025 Chad Powers Herself Episode: "1st Quarter"