Haliey Welch, better known as the Hawk Tuah girl, says she doesn’t feel the need to thank the content creators who posted the video that made her famous.
In June, Haliey and one of her friends were approached by Tim Dickerson and DeArius Marlow—who post videos on Tim & Dee TV YouTube channel—for a street interview. The YouTubers asked Haliey to reveal a move she pulls on men in the bedroom that makes them go “crazy.”
The 22-year-old said, “Oh, you gotta give him that hawk tuah and spit on that thang.” Her unfiltered response went viral, and she later began charging $25,000+ for appearances, according to her manager, Jonnie Forster, who shared the details with The Tennesean in July.
Haliey Welch, a.k.a Hawk Tuah girl, doesn’t think she should thank the content creator who conducted her viral street interview
Image credits: hay_welch
During a recent appearance on The Bobby Bones Show, Haliey was asked if she had spoken to or thanked the man who asked had her the naughty question.
“Tell him thank you for what?” the online star responded. When she was told that the video is the reason she’s an internet sensation, Haliey said, “Well, see, we reached out to him, and I asked him to stop posting those videos, and he never did. He blocked us all on everything.
“So I’m not telling him thank you for anything.”
Haliey went viral for her spitting onomatomania after YouTubers Tim & Dee TV asked her to name a move that drives men “crazy” in bed
Full Hawk Tuah interview for this who missed it pic.twitter.com/MJqhakS6Df
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) June 26, 2024
The Tennessee native also revealed that she hasn’t earned any money from the video itself, which is the property of the content creators.
Many social media users supported Haliey, arguing that the question and her answer aren’t the real reasons people keep talking about and interviewing her.
“She got famous off a viral video but it turns out she’s affable AF. I think she has a good chance of starting a career after this because she is cute, friendly, makes people smile, has a sense of humor, and she seems genuine,” one user wrote.
“She is such a real person. Very refreshing, especially for her age. She should teach a course to many of the pretentious influencers and celebrities,” another said.
“I’m not telling him thank you for anything,” the Tennessee star said, adding that she tried to have the video deleted
However, others labeled her attitude as ungrateful. “If he never recorded her, she wouldn’t be famous so…” a separate user argued.
Haliey dispelled rumors about her planning legal action against the men who distributed the video by sharing an edited image of the Legally Blonde movie poster with her face superimposed over the main character’s, captioned, “Fake news.”
The 22-year-old has capitalized on her viral moment by selling merchandise and launching a podcast called Talk Tuah
After going viral, Haliey reportedly assembled a team consisting of an attorney, a management company, and a PR firm.
“Right now, she can make more money holding up a can for five minutes than she made all last year,” her manager said.
At first, Haliey, who used to get up at 3:30 AM to work at a spring factory, didn’t enjoy being associated with the viral interview. “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,” she told The Tennessean.
“Other than that, I didn’t go anywhere. But I went from being embarrassed to living in the moment.”
Watch Haliey’s interview on The Bobby Bones Show below
Once she saw that people were selling merchandise using her catchphrase, she thought, “If everyone else is making money off of it, I might as well, too.”
Now, almost six months after the viral interview, Haliey has over 2.5 million followers on Instagram and hosts a podcast called Talk Tuah, where she’s interviewed stars like Wiz Khalifa, Jake Paul, and Holly Madison.
“She got her revenge by being successful,” a social media user wrote
