In summary
- Hailey Welch woke up after weeks of silence and announced her cooperation with lawyers who sued the creators of HAWK.
- Welch claimed that he was unaware of the details of the project and only received a flat fee for his image on the memecoin.
- The lawsuit against HAWK alleges losses of $151,000 and excludes Welch, who now supports those affected.
After 372 hours, Hailey Welch, better known as the Hawk Tuah girl, finally wakes up from her slumber to announce that she’s made some new friends—specifically, the same law firm that’s suing her business partners over their failed memecoin project. .
Sixteen days ago, Welch’s failed memecoin debut, a Solana token called HAWK, collapsed upon launch, enriching an apparent interconnected network of early investors and leaving most retail traders in a precarious situation. That night, Welch told an irritated audience at X Spaces that he was going to sleep and would see everyone in the morning—before disappearing for weeks.
On Friday, Welch broke that silence by announcing that he is cooperating with the law firm that sued the creators of the HAWK token on Thursday for allegedly violating US securities laws.
“I am fully cooperating and committed to assisting the legal team representing the affected individuals, as well as helping to uncover the truth, hold the parties involved accountable, and resolve this matter,” Welch said on X (formerly known as Twitter).
A spokesperson for Welch told Decrypt that the influencer was “totally isolated” from the HAWK project and “had no control over it.”
The spokesperson also claimed that Welch only received a flat sponsorship fee for lending his image to the memecoin project, adding that “there was no guarantee that he would get additional money from memecoin later.”
This story contrasts somewhat with the one presented earlier this week by the team responsible for building the majority of HAWK. Crypto ecosystem token launch platform OverHere said Tuesday that it only took leadership of the doomed token because one of Welch’s associates, a mysterious figure known as “Doc Hollywood,” “disappeared when the going got tough.”
The OverHere team claimed it did not collect fees from HAWK or make any profits from the project, and called out Welch and Doc Hollywood for an alleged lack of transparency.
The lawsuit filed Thursday against the project—by 12 American plaintiffs who claim they suffered more than $151,000 in damages from the project—listed OverHere as one of multiple defendants. It did not include Welch.
Alexandra Roberts, a law professor at Northeastern University, told Decrypt that she has never seen a situation like this before—in which a celebrity like Welch has actively assisted in a lawsuit targeting a project to which the celebrity lent her likeness.
“I think it’s a great public relations move,” Roberts said. “I think he’s trying to get ahead of himself and make a very clear statement: ‘Not only did I not know what was going on, but I want to advocate for the people who were scammed.'”
Burwick Law, the firm suing the creators of HAWK, told Decrypt that it does not represent Welch, but is in talks with his attorney.
When asked why Welch was not listed as a co-defendant in HAWK’s lawsuit, Max Burwick, managing partner at Burwick Law, said the decision was intentional and suggested it could help his clients get their money back sooner.
“In this matter, we have chosen the strategy that we believe will be most effective in helping our clients achieve significant results,” Burwick told Decrypt.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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