If Hawk Tuah Girl was hesitant about her sudden overnight fame, maybe things are starting to shift now that the cash is rolling in. The viral star, real name Hailey Welch, has reportedly begun making good money via merchandise.
Rolling Stone contacted Fathead Threads, a local Tennessee apparel brand working with Welch to sell shirts and hats. Jason Poteete from Fathead told Rolling Stone that they’d sold about 2,000 hats already, which, via back-of-the-napkin math, equates to roughly $65,000 in revenue. Welch reportedly gets an undisclosed percentage of sales, but it stands to reason she’s made a decent chunk of change from the merch.
In case you missed the mega-viral video, Hawk Tuah Girl first surfaced in a Tim & Dee TV video where she was asked to give a “move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?”
She, quite funnily, answered: “Aw, you gotta give ’em that ‘hawk tuah‘ and spit on that thang! You get me?” That has since become a big-time meme and clip over TikTok, X, and just about any other social media platform.
However, going viral does not always guarantee making money from it. With that in mind, Poteete wanted to assist Welch — who has not done any interviews in the wake of the viral clip — in monetizing her moment.
“Of course, she hasn’t gotten a dime from the first viral video that went out,” Poteete told Rolling Stone, while nothing he’s known Welch for years. “Nobody was asking permission for her to do nothing, neither. I just wanted her to get some profit off of this deal.”
Here’s hoping Welch can squeeze every cent out of the video. Page Six reported that major talent agencies were in talks with Welch, which hopefully means more cash for the viral star.
