You've seen the Hawk Tuah Girl. Everyone has. But, on the off-chance you haven't, let's start with a quick explainer! So, YouTube channel "Tim & Dee TV" endeavored to do a street interview in Nashville. For the uninformed, a "street interview" is basically someone with a microphone asking random people on the street random questions. Simple.
First, here's the infamous 'Hawk Tuah Girl' in her full glory. (I promise we'll get to her real name and all the surrounding intrigue in a second -- I gotta build the suspense first!)
The moment speaks for itself, but here's the gist of it in a sentence or two. "Hawk Tuah Girl is asked what bedroom move makes a fella lose his mind. Her response becomes internet gold."
Watch the video! I don't want to obliterate the discovery element completely! Anyway, after the viral moment, it was only replicated, remixed, and referenced a thousand times.
Liv Morgan did the Hawk Tuah meme
???
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) June 23, 2024
The Nashville 'Hawk Tuah' Girl: Who Is She And Was She Really Fired From Her Job?
Her real name is Hailey Welch. She seems to be doing rather well for herself following her time in the limelight. Branding, marketing, merchandise, the works! You gotta love capitalizing on a meme to line your pockets -- as it should be on the internet.
There were rumblings that Welch was "fired from her job" when her employer found out about the video. This "news" was posted by the "Tippah County Tribune" on Facebook. (In a hilarious post that I unfortunately don't have the space to transcribe here.) A few outlets ran with the story, reporting on it as if it was actual news.
However, if you read the fine print: what's the first thing you see when you click on the above hyperlink for the Tippah County Tribune page? "Tippah County's #1 Publication for Satirical Laughs."
It wasn't just the general public who fell for the joke. Journalists and prominent public figures fell for it, too. Unfortunately, this is what happens when there's a mad dash to cover any topic and wanting to beat other outlets to the punch. Some fact-checking pieces fall to the wayside for the sake of speed. Then, boom, you find yourself tanking your credibility. It only takes one ill-informed article or post to ruin months of hard work.
In conclusion, for my journalists and non-journalists alike: please do proper research before believing anything you read/report on/talk about.
