The internet’s latest viral sensation comes with long blonde hair, a strong Southern twang, and an undeniably NSFW sense of humor. Haliey Welch, also known as the “Hawk Tuah” girl, shot to overnight superstardom last month after she stole the show in a man-on-the-street interview with Tim & Dee TV. During a night out in Nashville, Tennessee, in early June—right after the country music festival CMA Fest—Welch and a friend were stopped by a camera team who asked them, among other things, a NSFW question about how they keep partners happy in the bedroom.
“Aw, you gotta give it that ‘Hawk Tuah’ and spit on that thang, you get me?” Welch shoots back in her reply, which falls around the 10-minute mark of the original video. Now, fans across the internet have “Hawk Tuah” fever, and Welch is making moves to grow the viral moment into something even bigger.
The 21-year-old Haliey Welch hails from Belfast, Tennessee. A college dropout who works in a factory, Welch was on vacation in Nashville when a camera team approached her and her friend for the interview that produced the “Hawk Tuah” moment. In the video, you can see Welch’s friend egging her on—it’s clear that the young woman’s friends and family already know and love her sense of humor.
“I love her personality,” Welch’s friend said about three weeks later, when the pair appeared on Barstool Sports’ Plan Bri audio show in conversation with host Brianna Lapaglia. “And the fact that the world gets to see it—and they obviously love it, too.”
As the “Hawk Tuah” girl took social media by storm, so did an onslaught of spinoff memes—including several from users cracking jokes about what her father might have thought of the situation. But on her Plan Bri appearance, Welch said that while a few people from her hometown had negative things to say, most—including her parents—were in on the joke.
“[My parents] think it’s so funny,” she explained. “They know how I am, though, ’cause you never know what comes out of my mouth. It’s a hit or a miss what comes out of my mouth. I just talk out of my a–.”
“You can tell I’m obviously joking by it,” she went on to say. “I don’t mean nothing by it.”
Welch admits her viral “Hawk Tuah” celebrity caught her by surprise. She says she agreed to the interview on a whim and promptly forgot about it until it started lighting up social media.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m never gonna see this again.’ Sure enough, I seen it again,” she deadpanned.
Welch says that as soon as her meme gained traction, people started seeking her out on social media—and a rumor popped up that she’d tried to scrub her internet presence as a way to hide from the attention. She says there’s no truth to that story, though it is true that she didn’t have much of an internet presence pre “Hawk Tuah” fame.
“I deleted all of my social media, like, six months ago due to personal reasons,” Welch clarifies. “I was long gone before [going viral].”
That’s not the only false story she’s heard about herself in recent weeks. Welch also denied a rumor that she was a teacher who got fired from her job after the interview went live, and another rumor that her father was a preacher.
“I’m not even old enough to be a teacher,” she says. “…My father is so far from a preacher it’s crazy. None of it’s true at all.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Welch has signed with management firm The Penthouse and hopes to launch social media channels around her signature, raunchy brand of humor. She also recently appeared onstage as a special guest at Zach Bryan’s show, donning her signature cowboy hat and singing along with his song “Revival.”
Welch also partnered with a hat company to sell official “Hawk Tuah” merch, and according to TMZ, the venture had raked in more than $65,000 by the end of June.
Of course, in addition to all the positive attention, she’s fielded her fair share of criticism and unseemly messages. “The guy that does my hats, he got offered $600, like three days ago, for me to spit in a jar and sell it,” she reveals. “That is revolting. That is just disgusting, is it not?”
Still, Welch is enjoying her ride in the spotlight, and she’s planning to keep the comedy coming for her newfound fans. “There’s more to come, don’t worry,” she said. “There is more to come.”
Source: Taste of Country, The Hollywood Reporter, TMZ
