Haley Welch, known as Hawk Tuah girl, speaks out about her downfall following podcast flop and legal battle over cryptocurrency venture

CONTROVERSIAL influencer-turned-crypto-hawker Haliey Welch, aka “Hawk Tuah” girl, has broken her silence after seemingly vanishing from public view after launching a digital currency that lost many investors money.

The Tennessee-based internet celebrity had not posted online for more than two weeks following reports a cryptocurrency launched by her team was subject to a lawsuit.

In a statement shared on her Twitter on Friday morning, Welch addressed the cryptocurrency fallout for the first time.

“I take this situation extremely seriously and want to address my fans, the investors who have been affected, and the broader community,” she wrote.

“I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter.

She also shared a link to Burwick Law, advising any investors who had lost money in relation to the cryptocurrency to get in touch with them.

Welch shot to fame in June at the age of 21 after she was featured in a YouTube video as part of a viral clip answering an NSFW question about sex.

When a TikTok was shared of her answering – in a heavy Southern drawl – “You gotta give ’em that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang,” Welch’s status as an internet micro-celebrity was secured.

Although admitting to being “so embarrassed” in the days after her interview went viral, she quickly embraced her fame, quitting her job at a bed spring factory that same month and launching her own line of merchandise.

In September, she launched a podcast, Talk Tuah, under Jake Paul’s Betr company, and even launched her own dating advice app, Pookie Tools, a reference to how she described her boyfriend in her original video.

Earlier this month, she launched a cryptocurrency meme coin, $HAWK, on the Solana blockchain platform.

It reached a market capitalization of nearly $500 million before quickly dropping to $25 million, a loss of a staggering 95% of its value.

At least one investor has filed a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission following the drop, and Welch’s team has been accused of performing a so-called “pump-and-dump” scheme.

Welch’s team has also faced accusations of insider trading and of operating a rug pull scam, something they have denied.

The last anyone had heard from her was when she was asked on a December 5 public Spaces stream on X where she was asked about the crash.

But before investors could get any answers, Welch interrupted the stream to say she was going to bed before disconnecting.

A December 19 court ruling states that the lawsuit “arises from the unlawful promotion and sale of the Hawk Tuah cryptocurrency memecoin, known as the ‘$HAWK’ token, which Defendants offered and sold to the public without proper registration.”

The lawsuit names the Tuah The Moon Foundation, which was used to handle money taken in from the sale of the coin, as well as the coin’s creator, OverHere Ltd, and its executive Clinton So.

Also named is the coin’s LA-based promoter Alex Larson Schultz.

Welch – who is not named personally in the lawsuit – did not respond immediately to The U.S. Sun’s requests for comment.

Her last post on her Instagram account – where she has 2.6 million followers – was on December 3.

The most recent post on the Talk Tuah podcast Instagram account (205,000 followers) was one day later to promote a clip of her speaking with Brooke Schofield.