According to Mashable, Hailey Welch, known as the 'Hawk Tuah girl', has broken her silence with a statement on the failed HAWK memecoin launch that occurred on December 4, 2024. As reported by Mashable, Welch announced that her Hawk Tuah memecoin had gone live on December 4, but disappeared from public view after the cryptocurrency collapsed within hours. During a late-night December 5 stream on X (formerly Twitter), Welch interrupted the live audio chat, saying 'I hate to interrupt you, Nick, but hello there. Anywho, I'm gonna go to bed and I'll see you guys tomorrow.' This marked the last public communication from Welch since the memecoin's launch, with no new episodes of her popular podcast Talk Tuah released in two weeks and no social media posts since the failed cryptocurrency launch. The Talk Tuah podcast, launched on September 3, had released new episodes every week until December 3, one day before the HAWK memecoin launch.
According to reports from crypto.news, Hailey Welch, known as the 'Hawk Tuah girl', recently spoke about the fallout from the failed launch of the HAWK memecoin in 2024, which she promoted. The memecoin launched with great fanfare in December 2024, quickly surging to a market capitalization of over $490 million. However, within hours, the coin's value dropped sharply, losing over 90% of its value. By the following day, the market cap had fallen to about $41 million, triggering what was widely described as a rug pull where investors were left with significant losses. As reported by Mashable, investigations into the memecoin found that the vast majority of the tokens were held by just a few wallets, with those that had invested claiming that insiders received pre-launch access to the cryptocurrency before it went on sale to the public. According to Mundo Deportivo, Welch claimed that 'the team hasn't sold one token and not 1 KOL was given 1 free token', suggesting the collapse was not due to insider trading or token distribution.
As reported by crypto.news, Welch claimed that she was unaware of the technical details behind the launch and had no control over the funds. She estimated that the total financial losses for investors were around $200,000. Despite these claims, the social and emotional toll was much greater, with Welch facing immense backlash and personal distress following the memecoin's collapse. According to Mashable, Welch's fans who had invested started to blame those directly involved in the project, with the backlash taking a significant toll on her mental health, causing her to retreat from social media and try to maintain a low profile for months. Her lawyer emphasized that she had fully cooperated with the FBI investigation, which ultimately found no evidence of fraud or intentional wrongdoing on her part. As reported by Mundo Deportivo, Welch described the experience as deeply distressing, stating 'This traumatized me. I wouldn't come out of the house for like months.'
According to crypto.news, following the HAWK memecoin's collapse, Welch received death threats and experienced heightened public scrutiny. She explained that people were telling her she owes them all this money, and she's like, 'I didn't do this.' The backlash took a significant toll on her mental health, causing her to retreat from social media and try to maintain a low profile for months. Her lawyer emphasized that she had fully cooperated with the FBI investigation, which ultimately found no evidence of fraud or intentional wrongdoing on her part. As reported by Mundo Deportivo, Welch described a visit by federal agents to her grandmother's residence, where they requested access to her phone and retained it for several days during which its contents were duplicated for analysis. The inquiries ultimately concluded without charges against her, and Welch was formally cleared of any wrongdoing.
As reported by crypto.news, after the HAWK memecoin's collapse, an investor lawsuit was filed against the team behind the launch, with the lawsuit accusing the entities of selling unregistered securities. However, Welch was not named as a defendant in the legal action. Following the collapse, federal authorities began examining the situation, with Welch stating she fully cooperated with both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission throughout the process. According to Mashable, Hawk Tuah memecoin investors filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the creators of $HAWK, alleging that they had unlawfully sold unregistered securities. The legal action has intensified scrutiny on the project, with Schultz yet to comment on OverHere's statement regarding his alleged control of token decisions and treasury operations. Welch's partners at OverHere have recently attempted to address the situation, placing blame on Alex Larson Schultz, also known as Doc Hollywood, who OverHere claims 'controlled all token decisions, fees, treasury'.