A few months after TikTok made Haliey Welch (a.k.a. Hawk Tuah Girl) a sensation overnight, her fanbase has done a complete 180° and now gets irrationally angry every time she books a gig, such as throwing the first pitch at a Mets game.
In June, the Tennesse-based street interview channel Tim & Dee TV uploaded a video featuring Welch. The interviewers caught Welch and her friend coming out of a bar and asked her, “What is one move in bed that makes a man go crazy?” Welch responded, “Oh, you gotta give it that ‘hawk tuah.’ Spit on that thang. You get me?” Her bold response, followed by her infectious laugh quickly took the internet by storm. Suddenly, all anyone could talk about for several weeks straight was Hawk Tuah Girl, as users made memes and remixes of Welch’s viral moment and phrase.
It was a bit of an overreaction, as a woman making an NSFW joke truly shouldn’t turn the whole internet upside down. Still, the internet made Welch famous, so she did what anyone else in her position would do and started capitalizing on the attention. She quit her job, launched a merch line, began accepting interviews, and has made special appearances at concerts and baseball games. For some reason, though, every appearance she has made outside her viral video has stirred irrational anger and annoyance.
Why are people mad at Haliey Welch?
Welch’s most recent public appearance was at the Mets’ home game against the Oakland Athletics at Citi Field stadium. She was invited to throw the ceremonial first pitch ahead of the game, which she did without issue. However, her presence triggered numerous male baseball fans, including WFAN’s Sal Licata. The radio station posted a video of Licata losing it over Welch, shouting at the top of his lungs, “The Mets have Grimace and now ‘Hawk Tuah.’ Come on, bro, I can’t take it; I cannot take it anymore. It’s ridiculous. And then you wonder why fans get so ticked off and upset. It’s embarrassing.”
Licata was far from the only grown man angered by Welch’s presence, as the comments on the video were filled with users agreeing with his sentiment. Additionally, many presented the bizarre argument that Welch wasn’t appropriate for the “family-friendly” sporting event with children present. Apparently, just because Welch made one NSFW joke on a girl’s night out when prompted to do so by an interviewer, her mere existence is now “inappropriate.” One triggered user called Welch’s fame “extremely jarring,” while another called her presence “as 2024 dystopian as it gets.”
The backlash was so strong that Welch actually responded to it, explaining that she was only there to spread awareness and encourage donations to the charity America’s Vet Dogs, which provides service dogs for veterans and first responders. First of all, melting down over who throws the ceremonial first pitch is ridiculous, but expressing such anger over someone who was there for a good cause is even worse.
The Mets Game isn’t the first time Welch has stirred such reactions. When she went on stage during a Country Music Festival, her appearance was met with complete silence. Meanwhile, every post Welch adds to Instagram is met with angry comments like “For the love of god, let’s stop making this girl famous” and “I don’t get it! What’s she famous for?” The anger doesn’t make much sense, though, as Welch has been slowly proving she deserves her fame. Many positive comments on her posts are from people who were initially skeptical about her fame but now admit she has a wonderful personality, posts wholesome content, and is using her platform for good. Ironically, it seems like the same people who were overly obsessed with the Hawk Tuah Girl trend are the ones now angry at her fame, as both reactions have come predominantly from middle-aged men.
Ultimately, it seems many men are angry that Welch is trying to establish herself as something more than the “Hawk Tuah Girl.” She has ignored persistent calls for her to start OnlyFans and refused to center her platform on NSFW content. Instead, she has used her fame to help support her grandmother and donate to animal shelters while sharing her hilarious and wholesome reactions to LA life. It seems that men didn’t want her to share her real personality, though. They wanted her to remain the nameless Hawk Tuah Girl, who they could sexualize without being reminded that she’s a real person and doesn’t deserve to receive harassment and perverted messages from men just because she made a dirty joke once.
Fortunately, Welch doesn’t appear to be letting any of the hateful reactions get to her. She has made the most of her unexpected rise to fame and deserves to define herself instead of letting the internet cherry-pick one small moment from her life to define her.
Published: Aug 19, 2024 03:48 pm