By Meeta Borah
Hailey Welch became popular as the ‘Hawk Tuah girl’ after a TikTok video of her being interviewed went viral in July 2024. In multiple interviews since then, Welch confided that she was initially embarrassed about the attention the video was getting. But eventually decided to embrace the fame that came with the nickname – Hawk Tuah girl. Within months, she became involved in several different projects.From amassing a sizeable following on social media and selling her own merchandise to starting a podcast and throwing the first pitch at a New York Mets game, the Hawk Tuah girl seemed to be on a path of accelerated growth. But things started going downhill soon after Welch launched the cryptocurrency meme coin, $HAWK, in December of last year.In this list, we look at the different controversies that negatively impacted the Hawk Tuah girl’s image and popularity.Disclaimer: This list contains information from various sources. $HAWK token, VidCon 2025 and three other incidents involving the Hawk Tuah girl that sparked discussions1) The $HAWK token scandalWelch released $HAWK token in December 2024 (Image via Official Instagram Page)At the height of her popularity, the Hawk Tuah girl released $HAWK token, a cryptocurrency meme coin on Solana. The digital coin gained attention from fans and other investors as it hit a $490m market cap after it was launched. Welch created hype for the Hawk tokens on social media by distributing some among her fans for free before it was officially launched.But people became suspicious when the valuation dropped to around $60m within minutes of the launch. People accused the Hawk Tuah girl and her team of pulling a pump-and-dump. A fraud involving artificially inflating stock prices through deceptive statements to sell cheaply purchased stock at a much higher rate. However, Welch’s team has denied these statements.Fans became further disillusioned with the Hawk Tuah girl after a lawsuit was filed against the $HAWK creators for selling cryptocurrency that was allegedly not registered properly.2) The DNA test debacleWelch is from Belfast, Tennessee (Image via Official Instagram Page)When Welch’s popularity grew as the Hawk Tuah girl, she went on to make several appearances. She even joined Zach Bryan, a country singer-songwriter, on stage at a concert. In particular, her appearance on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast gained considerable traction.Hosted by comedian Howie Mandel along with his daughter, Jackelyn Shultz, the podcast features funny prank calls, animated pop culture discussions, guest interviews and more. The episode featuring the Hawk Tuah girl made a big splash because Welch took a DNA test that revealed she is 97.7% Ashkenazi Jewish.Soon enough, there were several posts circulating online that claimed Welch was an Israeli Jew, some conspiracy theorists even went as far as labeling her as a part of the Israeli Mossad鈥檚 Psychological Warfare Unit. However, the test results were quickly debunked because no available DNA test had the ability to accurately reveal ancestry in less than five minutes.3) The Sam Darnold dating rumorWelch is in a relationship with Kelby Blackwell (Image via Official Instagram Page)Even though Welch became viral unexpectedly, she found many ways to leverage people’s fascination with the Hawk Tuah girl. One was to start her own podcast named Talk Tuah, with Betr, a sports-media and mobile-betting company founded by Jake Paul.One particular teaser video for an upcoming podcast episode got fans talking because Welch hinted that she would finally reveal the identity of her partner. As the teaser featured a photo of the Hawk Tuah girl with Sam Darnold, a well-known quarterback, her followers assumed that he was the mysterious boyfriend.Expectedly, the dating rumors created a buzz among fans but the real surprise came when Welch finally revealed the name of her boyfriend and it was not Darnold. It was in fact, Kelby Blackwell, a plumber from her hometown.4) The Pookie Tools controversyPookie Tools by Welch has received mixed reactions from followers (Image via Official Instagram Page)Pookie Tools is an AI-powered dating app released by Welch on November 14, 2024. The name wouldn’t come as a surprise to fans following the Hawk Tuah girl’s journey as she has repeatedly referred to her boyfriend as “Pookie”. The app is aimed at helping users find their ideal romantic partner.However, the app sparked debate for its controversial features such as “height detector” and “baldness predictor”. People have been very vocal about the app because they feel that these features would encourage unrealistic beauty standards while reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Many users also raised privacy concerns.Welch commented that the app was meant to be fun for people to use and that the added features shouldn’t be taken too seriously but many users couldn’t help but feel concerned.5) The VidCon 2025 fiascoHer comeback hasn’t been as successful as expected so far (Image via Official Instagram Page)After the cryptocurrency lawsuit, the Hawk Tuah girl disappeared from the limelight for a little while. But, lately, she has been attempting to reconnect with her fans through different activities which included VidCon 2025. VidCon is an annual convention that is centered around influencers, online brands, fans, and more.During VidCon Anaheim 2025, Welch along with Chelsea Bradford, and Whitney Cummings attended a live recording of her podcast Talk Tuah. The crowd was acting rowdy throughout the conversation and Cummings shouted back multiple times to quieten them down. When Cummings’ raunchy comedy was being discussed, many audience members were seen leaving.Fans were especially disheartened when Welsh made insensitive comments during the question and answer session. She claimed that she didn’t look like someone who could speak about crypto even though it was her cryptocurrency that cost investors millions of dollars. Welsh also hinted that she only faced backlash because she was a woman.It is uncertain what the future holds for the Hawk Tuah girl but these controversial incidents have certainly impacted her fanbase.