What’s the Deal With ‘Hawk Tuah’ Girl?

Have you spent the past few weeks seeing posts about someone called “Hawk Tuah Girl” and thinking to yourself, “I can’t be bothered with more information.” If so, you and I are in the same boat. Well, curiosity got the best of me when I saw that Ms. Tuah was reportedly signing with a talent agency. That rumor has since been walked back, but I had already seen the video and sort of figured out what was going on with the girl going viral for her fun sex tip. So now, I will pass that information on to you.

Who is Hawk Tuah Girl?

Otherwise known as Haliey Welch, Hawk Tuah Girl is rising to prominence after being featured in a man-on-the-street interview from creators Tim & Dee TV. In the video, she’s asked “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?” Her response is what’s made her go viral.

“You gotta give ’em that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang,” she exclaimed. Words can’t really capture her whole vibe, so let’s run the tape.

Do you get it now? “Hawk tuah” is like, the sound of the guy in the back of an old Western saloon using a spittoon, but she’s talking about sex. It is funny. Whether or not it’s more than a week’s worth of virality levels of funny is up to you.

Wait, that’s it?

Yeah. It might be helpful to conceptualize this as a PG-13 version of the “Damn, Daniel” moment. She said something funny, the internet is loving it, and people are quickly scrambling to figure out how to capitalize on it. There was even a rumor that she was going to sign with United Talent Agency, but TMZ is now reporting that no such deal is actually in the works. Someone should figure out something to do with this girl. She’s a good sport with a lot of charisma, which is like half the job of being famous.

Is there a way I can spend somewhere between $19.99 and $37.99 to let people know that I’m clued in to new memes?

Might I interest you in a hat? Or maybe a T-shirt that reads, “If she don’t hawk tuah, I don’t want to talk tuah”? Admittedly, that one is clever. Tim & Dee TV have created an official merch line to capitalize on their viral moment, but it’s unclear if Welch is getting a cut or not. (Unofficial “Hawk Tuah ’24” merch was even spotted by one Cut staffer while on vacation in New Buffalo, Michigan.)

Where Welch is definitely making her money is from the official Hawk Tuah hats. The trucker-style caps are produced by Jason Poteete, who owns an apparel company called Fathead Threads and has reportedly known Welch for years. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Poteete shared that the merch has been doing big business. They’ve sold more than 2,000 hats already (the signed $50 version sold out quickly), and given the cheapest one is $32.78, the company must have brought in at least $65,000 on hats alone. Poteete wouldn’t say how much of that is going to Welch but said he wanted to make sure she saw some of the money being made off of her.

“Of course she hasn’t gotten a dime from the first viral video that went out,” Poteete told the magazine. “Nobody was asking permission for her to do nothing, neither. I just wanted her to get some profit off of this deal.”

Did she lose her job?

No, people are just trolling. Tippah County Tribune, a satirical social-media account, shared a post on Facebook in which they claimed that Welch (whom they identify as “Hailey Wellington”) had lost her job as a preschool teacher at “Epstein Day School.” Their fake story included children “spitting on each other and everything else” in the wake of the viral video. Welch later revealed that she actually worked at a spring factory in her hometown in Tennessee, and that she did not lose that job over this whole ordeal. (She quit once the video blew up.)

What has she said about going viral?

Welch sat down for her first interview with Brianna Lapaglia of the Barstool Sports podcast Plan Bri. Lapaglia is dating country singer Zach Bryan, and interviewed Welch backstage at his concert. (Later in the evening, he brought Welch onstage to sing his hit “Revival” with him and she dutifully screamed “Hawk tuah!” into the mic.)

Welch told Lapaglia that she had been in Nashville for CMA Fest when she filmed her infamous clip and that she never expected to see the video again. She said that she saw it was going viral at around 2 a.m. while getting ready for work. “I shit a brick,” Welch said. As the video continued to gain traction, people began to make fake social-media accounts for the 21-year-old, who explained that she had deleted all her accounts six months ago for personal reasons. “It’s kinda creepy, seeing your face on another account that don’t belong to you,” she said.

Of course, people have been weird about this whole thing. Welch said that someone recently offered Poteete (the hat guy) $600 if he could get her to spit in a jar and mail it to him.

While there are the errant pervs to deal with, Welch says she wants to use this as a springboard to a career. She has a manager and a team now, and says that her plan is to do “a show, and we’re just gonna be on a bunch of podcasts and everything else in between.”

Are people being normal about her?

No! People are actually being super-weird about her, which unfortunately is to be expected when you’re a cute girl who goes megaviral — especially for answering a question about sex. The internet is filled with freaks and perverts, and they have all become obsessed with Welch and her newly coined phrase. A representative for PornHub told TMZ that the website was projecting 4.7 million searches for the term “hawk tuah” by Tuesday. You have to imagine it would be easier to search for “spitting,” right?

Meanwhile, “hawk tuah” has also become a political battleground. In her interview with Lapaglia, Welch declared that she would not give Donald Trump the ol’ hawk tuah. “It’s a no from me,” she said.

People whose brains have been poisoned by the internet interpreted this as Welch stating her politics. “The degenerate Hawk Tuah girl, whose real name is Hailey Welsh, is ANTI TRUMP,” far-right political activist Laura Loomer posted on X. On the other side, a bizarre anonymous liberal account called Biden’s Wins declared that Welch had “demolished” Trump. Neither party seems to understand that Welch has not made a political statement; she simply does not want to engage in a sexual relationship with a 78-year-old man who always looks like he’s melting.

Ms. Tuah is looking to the future.

As she told Lapaglia, she has a management team and they’re figuring out next steps for her. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Welch had signed with a management firm called The Penthouse.

“I’m glad our team can help guide this rocket ship,” said The Penthouse founder Jonnie Forster in a statement. “All the podcasters are right — spend five minutes with her and you’ll see why she is America’s sweetheart.” I’m not sure who “all the podcasters” are, seeing as she’s only done one podcast.

Welch, for her part, seems excited about this new venture. “Two weeks ago, it was just my granny and me in itty-bitty Belfast, Tennessee. Then I say something silly and now my life has changed. Isn’t God great?! Can’t wait for what’s ahead,” Welch said in a statement. She has since hit the ground running. Welch returned to Instagram last week and quickly gained 1 million followers.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, Welch made her first paid appearance at Daer Dayclub at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Welch shared a recap video of the event on Instagram, which included footage of her getting teary as a team of bottle girls celebrated her million-followers milestone.

The next stop on her grand tour of the United States is New York, where she’ll be making a club appearance this weekend. Do you think Andy Cohen has already put in a request for her to bartend on Watch What Happens Live?

Welch did her first big magazine interview.

The internet darling took some time to sit down with Rolling Stone, which declared in the headline of the piece that Welch is “the national hero we need.” What anyone is ever talking about is beyond me.

In the interview, Welch divulged a few personal details. She was raised by her paternal grandmother; her mother has never been in her life; and while she loves animals, she stays away from adopting cats because “they always run away — or get run over.”

She clarified what she meant when she said she wouldn’t “hawk tuah” Trump, saying, “I was talking about looks-wise. Donald Trump, I’m sure you’re a nice man, but you ain’t getting the hawk from me. He’s old enough to be my granddaddy.”

It still seems as though neither Welch nor her management team know exactly what her next step is going to be. She told the magazine that she likes the idea of podcasting and wants to be in a vaguely comedic space. She has a publicist now, and when she was told she’s repped by the same firm that handles Bruce Springsteen’s publicity, she said, “Who is that?” Now, take a deep breath and repeat after me: It’s okay that a 21-year-old from a town of 700 people doesn’t know who Bruce Springsteen is.

And now she has a podcast.

Welch is launching her podcast, creatively titled Talk Tuah, later this month through Jake Paul’s media company, Betr. In a press release, the company announced that Welch’s first guest would be Whitney Cummings, followed by content creator Josh Richards, and then Paul himself. The show, according to Betr, will “blend insightful interviews with comedic elements.” Thank God someone is finally bringing that to the podcasting space.

“My show will have a little of everything — great guests, laughs, chit chats about your pets, relationship pointers, sports and, of course, some down home southern charm,” Welch said in a statement.

Well, consider me subscribed.

This post has been updated.