You’ve seen the clip. It was everywhere. One second you're scrolling through TikTok or Reels, and the next, a girl with a thick Southern accent is giving the most unfiltered, viral sex advice in the history of the internet.
"You gotta give 'em that 'hawk tuah' and spit on that thang!"
It’s weird how the internet works. One minute Haliey Welch was a 21-year-old girl working in a bedspring factory in Tennessee, and literally overnight, she became the "Hawk Tuah Girl." But honestly, the story didn't end with that 15-second interview on a Nashville street corner. Not even close. While most viral stars flame out after a week, Haliey managed to turn a drunken, "smart-ass" comment into a full-blown media career, though it hasn't exactly been a smooth ride.
The Night Everything Changed in Nashville
It happened in June 2024. Haliey was out with a friend at the CMA Fest in Nashville, just having a good time on Broadway. They were approached by two guys from a YouTube channel called Tim & Dee TV. They were doing "vox pop" interviews—basically sticking a microphone in people's faces and asking provocative questions to get a reaction.
They asked her: "What's one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?"
Most people would have probably giggled or walked away. Haliey didn't. She leaned in, made the now-iconic onomatopoeic sound of someone clearing their throat to spit, and uttered the phrase that would be printed on roughly a million hats by the end of the month.
👉 See also: Questions From Black Card Revoked: The Culture Test That Might Just Get You Roasted
She was being a "little bit of a smart-ass," as she later told People Magazine. She didn't think it would go anywhere. In fact, when the video first blew up, she was mortified. She actually hid in her house for two weeks. Imagine waking up and finding out your face is a global meme for a joke about fellatio. It’s a lot to process.
From Factory Worker to the TIME100
Before the "hawk tuah spit on that thing" craze, life was pretty normal for Haliey. She grew up in Belfast, Tennessee, and was raised by her paternal grandmother. She was earning minimum wage making bedsprings.
But the internet has a way of moving fast. By June 27, 2024—just weeks after the video dropped—she quit her factory job. Why? Because people were already making money off her name. Random vendors were selling "Hawk Tuah" shirts and hats. She realized if anyone was going to profit off her embarrassing moment, it might as well be her.
She partnered with a local apparel brand called Fathead Threads, run by a guy she’d known for years named Jason Poteete. They sold $65,000 worth of hats in about two weeks. Suddenly, the girl from Belfast wasn't just a meme; she was a business.
Fast forward to 2025, and she actually made the TIME100 Creators List. It sounds crazy, right? But she managed to keep the momentum going by doing things nobody expected. She threw the first pitch at a New York Mets game. She joined country star Zach Bryan on stage to sing "Revival." She even launched a podcast called Talk Tuah under Jake Paul’s media company, Betr.
✨ Don't miss: The Reality of Sex Movies From Africa: Censorship, Nollywood, and the Digital Underground
The Guests You’d Never Expect
Her podcast wasn’t just her talking into a void. She somehow landed:
- Mark Cuban, who actually gave her a lesson in financial literacy (and told her she should be on Dancing with the Stars).
- Wiz Khalifa and JoJo Siwa.
- Whitney Cummings, who was the first guest.
The Dark Side: Scams, Feds, and Crypto
It hasn't all been "sunshine and rainbows." If you follow the space, you know that 2024 and 2025 were peak years for "memecoins"—cryptocurrencies based on internet trends. Haliey launched a "Hawk Tuah" coin on the Solana blockchain in late 2024, and it was a total disaster.
Famous crypto investigator Coffeezilla called it one of the most "miserable, horrible launches" ever. There were accusations of insider trading and "snipers" (people who buy up a ton of a coin immediately to manipulate the price). Haliey eventually had to address it on her podcast, basically saying she trusted the wrong people and never meant to hurt anyone. It was a classic "viral star gets handled by sharks" situation.
The Legal Battle for Two Words
Everyone wanted a piece of the "hawk tuah spit on that thing" trademark. According to trademark filings, at least 22 different people tried to register the phrase for everything from clothing to personal lubricants.
The legal reality is actually pretty boring: you can't really copyright a short phrase. Haliey filed for the trademark herself in July 2024, but since she didn't technically "invent" the sound (people have been spitting forever, obviously), the legal battle was mostly about who was using it in commerce first. She doesn't even own the copyright to the original video—the guys who filmed it do.
🔗 Read more: Alfonso Cuarón: Why the Harry Potter 3 Director Changed the Wizarding World Forever
What Haliey Welch is Doing Now (2026)
We are now well into 2026, and Haliey is still around, which is probably the most surprising part of this whole saga. She’s moved past just being a "spit meme."
She’s actually focused a lot of her energy on her non-profit, Paws Across America. Her goal is to visit every animal shelter in Tennessee and help get dogs adopted. She’s also got a documentary in the works with an Emmy-winning production company to tell the "bizarre truth" of her rise to fame. She even snagged a cameo in the Hulu series Chad Powers starring Glen Powell.
Basically, she took a 15-second moment of "brain rot" humor and turned it into a multi-million dollar brand.
Actionable Takeaways from the Hawk Tuah Era
If there’s anything to learn from Haliey Welch’s wild ride, it’s these three things:
- Own your narrative early. Haliey hid for two weeks, but once she realized the meme wasn't going away, she jumped into the business side. If she hadn't partnered with Fathead Threads immediately, she would have missed out on those first six figures of revenue.
- Vulnerability builds longevity. Instead of trying to act like a polished influencer, she stayed "Southern" and talked openly about her family (and her "Granny"). That authenticity is why people kept listening to her podcast long after the joke got old.
- Watch the "sharks." The crypto fiasco is a huge warning. When you go viral, people will crawl out of the woodwork to "help" you. Always vet your partners, especially when your name is the only thing on the line.
The "hawk tuah" meme might be a relic of 2024 internet culture, but the way Haliey Welch navigated the chaos is actually a pretty impressive case study in modern celebrity. She didn't ask to be a meme, but she sure as hell made sure she wasn't just a footnote.