Hailey Welch revealed that her boyfriend also invested in her controversial cryptocurrency.
It feels like just yesterday we were all yelling “Hawk Tuah” for fun, but the internet moves fast.
Things escalate even quicker when you’re accused of running a ‘pump and dump’ crypto scheme, a tactic where a coin’s value is artificially inflated, often by a celebrity or viral moment, before being sold off for profit.
The ‘$HAWK token’ left buyers millions out of pocket, and as the face of it, ‘Hawk Tuah Girl’ Haliey Welch faced massive backlash online.
The cryptocurrency controversy nearly ended her career as quickly as her viral moment launched it.
While news of the scandal spread across social media, Welch has now resurfaced in a leaked podcast episode with content creator FaZe Banks.
The cryptocurrency, which reportedly peaked at a staggering $490 million (£393 million) by the end of 2024, later saw a sharp decline of over 90 percent, according to CoinTelegraph.
Lawsuits have since been filed against those involved with the coin, sparking widespread discussions online about the legality of cryptocurrency promotion and sales.
She addressed the controversy on her podcast, revealing that it wasn’t just everyday investors who took a hit—her own boyfriend, Kelby Blackwell, was also affected.
“Pookie lost money too,” Welch admitted. “He said, ‘How you gonna take my money?’ He still gives me s*** all the time. He says, ‘I wish I had my $300 back.’”
While $300 (£242) may not seem like much, the fact that he keeps bringing it up speaks volumes.
Reflecting on the crypto debacle, Welch acknowledged that things didn’t go as planned and expressed sympathy 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.”
