Haliey Welch Sets the Record Straight on Suing Creators Behind Her Viral 'Hawk Tuah' Interview

Mar. 15, 2025

Hailey Welch.Photo:Michael Tullberg/Getty

Michael Tullberg/Getty

Haliey Welch is setting the record straight on reports that she is suing the creators behind her viral “hawk tuah” moment.

Shortly after, the 22-year-old internet personalitytook to X(formerly known as Twitter) on Oct. 6, writing that the rumors were “fake news” alongside a photo of her face photoshopped overReese Witherspoon’s character Elle Woods fromLegally Blonde.

Hailey Welch.Michael Tullberg/Getty

Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE in September, Welch revealed that she “hid for two weeks” after her response went viral, noting she was “embarrassed to death” to leave her house. She even recalled hiding the viral clip from her grandmother for a while.

Haliey Welch.Michael Tullberg/Getty

Welch’s response — which currently has over 8 million views onYouTube— quickly put her in the spotlight and allowed her toquit her job at a spring factory. Since then, she has pursued other opportunities such as starting theTalk Tuahpodcast, which includes celebrity guest appearances, “dating advice” and “girl talk.”

As far as communication with the creators behind her viral video, Welch alleged that Marlow “blocked her” after she and her friends asked him to stop posting other clips from the interview.

“The first video [Marlow posted] wasn’t as bad. I was like, ‘Oh, okay, whatever. That’s the only video he’s going to get out of that,’ " Welch explained to PEOPLE. “He winds up posting another one, and then [more clips].”

“My friends all reached out [to me] and was like, ‘Message him and ask him, quit posting them. You can leave the one you had all the views and stuff on, the first one.’  But he ended up blocking all of us and he didn’t acknowledge any of us when we asked, ‘Just stop posting more.’ "

Welch also told PEOPLE that the creators did try to reach out to her after she went viral, but she didn’t want to talk to him.

“He wasn’t kind to me when all this started,” she said. “So I don’t have any time of day for him.”

source: people.com