“Hawk Tuah” girl, Haliey Welch, stopped by The Bobby Bones Show, to talk about her newfound fame and future plans!
On June 9, while walking on Broadway in Nashville during CMA Fest, a YouTuber recorded a video of Welch telling the sexual joke “Hawk Tuah” and posted it online. To her and the creators surprise, it went beyond viral. At first, she was embarrassed and she and the other girl who was in the video with her hid for two weeks. Then, when people started pretending to be her online and were profiting from it, she decided to get on socials and reveal herself.
One of the first big rumors that went around was that she was a teacher who lost her job from the video, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. 21-year-old Welch worked at a Spring Factory doing shipping and quality and is from the small town of Belfast, Tennessee which has a population of less than 700 people. She lived with her granny and prior to going viral, she had no social media and had never been on an airplane. Now, she’s dealing with people driving by her house and media outlets coming to her door to try and get an interview. She’s also trying to figure out what her next move is to make her “16 minutes of fame” last, a term she coined about having more than just “15 minutes of fame.”
Almost immediately once she launched her social media, brands and celebrities started reaching out to work together. She had no idea how to handle it, so she got a Lawyer to make sure she didn’t get taken advantage of. One of the first ways she started making money was by signing autographs for people and she couldn’t believe she was making money for it. Welch’s first public appearance since the viral video was at Zach Bryan’s Nashville show. She already had tickets to the show, so her team reached out to him about getting her security, and that’s when she was invited to join him on stage, along with getting upgraded seats. She also met Shaq and got to DJ with him at a bar in Nashville and shared that he is the coolest and nicest man!
Welch is working towards moving out of the “Hawk Tuah” phase and wants to be known by her first name Haliey. She’s investing herself in different opportunities to make a career out of her current platform. Right now, she’s been doing a lot of charity work that she enjoys. She’s also met with a bunch of comedians and is looking to get into podcasting. She shared the podcast is leaning towards being something for the girls. She’s also been in talks about a reality show and has been having a lot of meetings. She introduces herself as Haliey so she can have her own identity and transition away from “Hawk Tuah” girl. She doesn’t even say the phrase anymore because she doesn’t want to be known for that. A lot of people ask her to say it but she’s choosing to stay away from the phrase that started with her and her cousin joking about it for years. She is also working on a lot of anti-bullying stuff which is important to her because she believes people need to be nicer in the world. The biggest thing Welch has learned from this experience is to not read the comments. The worst part of her newfound fame she shared is that everyone looks at her when she walks somewhere now, and it makes her nervous.
Her real Instagram account is @Hay_Welch. She has a deal with the store Spencer's, where they are selling her merch, and she is promoting it in the link in her bio!