Hailey Welch

Haliey Welch Breaks Silence After Lawsuit Targets Hawk Tuah Memecoin

News

What’s New

“Hawk Tuah” star Haliey Welch has broken her silence after investors launched a lawsuit following the crash of her memecoin cryptocurrency venture.

Lawyers for the investors wrote in their Dec. 19 court filing that the lawsuit “arises from the unlawful promotion and sale of the Hawk Tuah cryptocurrency memecoin, known as the “$HAWK” token (the “Token” or “$HAWK”), which Defendants offered and sold to the public without proper registration.”

The cryptocurrency lost more than 95 percent of its value in a single day when it was released on Dec. 4, seeing its value plunge by $440 million in just 20 minutes.
Responding to the lawsuit, Welch wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “I take this situation extremely seriously and want to address my fans, the investors who have been affected, and the broader community.

“I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter.”

Named in the suit are: Tuah The Moon Foundation, which was used to handle money taken in from the sale of the meme coin, and the coin’s creator, OverHere Ltd and its executive, Clinton So and the meme coin’s Los Angeles-based promoter, Alex Larson Schultz.

Newsweek sought email comment on Thursday from Welch; Tuah The Moon and OverHere Ltd.

Haliey Welch in Los Angeles in July. Welch has said she takes the situation “extremely seriously” after a lawsuit was filed against her cryptocurrency venture on Thursday.

Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

Why It Matters

The case alleges that the 22-year-old and the coin’s promoter inflated the value of the coin to create a “speculative frenzy,” by using Welch’s name and status to “enhance the Token’s credibility and appeal.”

On Dec. 4, the day the token was listed and subsequently lost 95 percent of its value, Welch posted to her X account claiming that nobody from her team has sold any of their $hauk tokens.

However, that post was met with a community note that said she was not telling the truth, and her team did sell their tokens since the coin was launched.

The note says: “Haliey is lying and will likely have to “talk tuah” judge about this.”

What To Know

Welch skyrocketed to fame after being featured on a ‘man on the street’ YouTube video using the phrase “Hauk Tuah” to describe a sexual act.

Since that video, Welch launched a podcast called ‘Tuah Talk,’ where she has interviewed people including YouTuber Jake Paul, musician Wiz Khalifa, and Shark Talk investor Mark Cuban.

What People Are Saying

Haliey Welch’s full statement reads: “I take this situation extremely seriously and want to address my fans, the investors who have been affected, and the broader community. I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter. If you have experienced losses related to this, please contact Burwick Law using the link below:https://burwick.law/newclient.”

Burwick Law, one of the firms representing the investors, said: “Sadly, this is one of many memecoin cases where institutional greed has exploited celebrities and their influence to harm everyday people.”

What Happens Next

Welch’s post included a link for people to submit complaints about her coin. Whether these complaints will be added to the current suit is unclear at this time.

The defendants in the suit will be given a chance to reply to the lawsuit and will likely ask for a summary judgment in their favor. If this is not granted by a judge, then the case may go to a trial.

Correction, 12/20/24, 11:25 a.m. ET: This article was updated to correct the spelling of Haliey Welch’s first name.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *