Hawk Tuah girl opens up about her boyfriend’s reaction after losing money in her crypto crash
It seems like yesterday we were running around shouting 'Hawk Tuah' at each other, but the internet comes at you fast.
Things seem to speed up though, particularly if you're getting accused of a 'pump and dump' crypto coin scheme.
The meaning is in the name, it's when a coin is 'pumped up' in value by a celebrity or something else driving it, and then sold so that the creators can make profit.
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'$HAWK token' lost its buyers millions, and as the face of it, 'Hawk Tuah Girl' Haliey Welch was cancelled on social media.
The cryptocurrency scandal threatened to end her career as quickly as her viral street video started it.
News of her alleged transgressions with the coin did the rounds online, but it looks like Welch is back, in a leaked podcast episode with content creator FaZe Banks.
The cryptocurrency, which reportedly reached a jaw-dropping value of $490 million (£393 million) at the end of 2024, CoinTelegraph reported that it dropped by more than 90 percent.
Lawsuits have been filed against those behind the coin, while the conversation around the unlawful promotion of selling cryptocurrency also became a popular topic online.
She took to her podcast to reveal that it wasn't just regular people that suffered, as her own 'pookie' (boyfriend, for those not down with the slang), was also hit.
Kelby Blackwell, Welch's significant other, even teases her about it.
“Pookie lost money too,” she revealed. “He said, ‘How you going to take my money?’ He still gives me s*** all the time. He says, ‘I wish I had my $300 back’,” Welch added.
It may just be $300 (£242), but the fact he had to bring it up really sends the message across.
Speaking more about the crypto venture as a whole, Welch admitted it didn't go to plan, and felt sorry for those who lost money.
Explaining that it was a 'friend of a friend' who came up with the idea, she said: “It was brought to me as a long-term coin that would change the way everybody thinks about crypto,
“And I feel really bad for all the people that got affected by it. It just didn’t go the way I planned.”
Looking back, the internet star also said that she should have reacted more to red flags that she noticed about the person behind the project.
She admitted: “I probably should have looked into him a little bit more.
"He was acting a little bit weird on the day of the launch, and that made me suspicious.”
Topics: Cryptocurrency, Social Media, Viral, Celebrity, Podcast
Joshua Nair