Haliey Welch, better known as the ‘Hawk Tuah Girl’, responded to the lawsuit filed against the shady foundation behind the launch of her crypto token, which came just hours after reaching a market cap of $490 million with over 90 percent collapsed.
Notably, Welch was not named as a defendant in Thursday’s lawsuit, despite the fact that her name and likeness were used to promote the “$HAWK token,” which debuted on December 4.
“I am taking this situation extremely seriously and want to speak to my fans, the investors who have been affected, and the broader community,” the social media star began in a post post on X on Friday.
“I am fully cooperating with and committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals involved, and to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable and resolve this case,” she continued.
Welch then provided a link to a form that affected investors can fill out on the website of cryptocurrency attorney Burwick Law, the firm representing plaintiffs suing the creators of $HAWK.
Some of the responses to Welch were various forms of “I told you so” from people with experience in the crypto space.
ZachXBT, a well-known crypto researcher, shared a screenshot of someone warning investors that Welch would create a cryptocurrency.
“Only if you were warned by the entire community before the token was launched,” he replied to Welch’s post about the lawsuit.
Haliey Welch, who launched into social media superstardom as “Hawk Tuah Girl,” broke her silence on Friday on the lawsuit filed against the failed cryptocurrency project she was associated with
Welch was responding to the lawsuit filed Thursday against the creators of ‘$HAWK token’, which collapsed by 90 percent hours after reaching a market cap of $490 million
Others in the replies to her post have called attention to the people who thought $HAWK would be a good investment.
Someone called what Welch did a “cop” and said, “You advertised it. It was bought because your image was attached to it. You deserve the same consequences as any ‘responsible party.’
But the vast majority of people simply pranked Welch by jokingly saying they had lost their savings or asking her if she had “slept well.”
This is an apparent reference to a Twitter space she was a part of about two weeks ago that was intended as a forum for people to ask questions about her failed crypto project.
She didn’t participate much in the room and only intervened here and there. But her involvement ended abruptly when she declared she had to go to bed as the coin’s makers were under fire for the alleged scam.
‘Hey guys! I hate to bother you, Nick, but hello there. But anyway, I’m going to bed, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said.
The lawsuit named the defendants as Alex Larson Schultz, better known online as Doc Hollywood, and the Tuah The Moon Foundation, the organization allegedly behind $HAWK.
Schultz, who emerged as the leading defender of Welch and the crypto project, appears to have deleted his entire social media presence.
Also named in the lawsuit were the symbolic launch organization overHere and Clinton So, the founder of overHere.
Alex Larson Schultz, better known online as Doc Hollywood, is pictured next to Welch and her boyfriend Chelsea Bradford. Following the controversy, Schultz appears to have deleted his entire social media presence
The lawsuit accused the project’s creators of taking advantage of early crypto participants by using Welch’s fame and celebrity to convince them to invest.
The lawsuit accused the project’s creators of taking advantage of novice crypto participants by using Welch’s fame and celebrity to convince them to invest.
It also argued that the crypto token they promoted was sold as an unregistered security asset.
In order to legally sell a security, a company must file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which includes financial statements, information about what the company does and who is employed by the company.
According to the agency, the scheme is in place to prevent people from becoming victims of fraudsters. If the offense is prosecuted, the sale of unregistered securities is punishable by up to five years in prison.
A total of seventeen people who claim they lost more than $151,000 by investing in $HAWK are behind the lawsuit.
Thursday’s complaint also alleges that Clinton So – who initially launched the coin – created the Tuah Foundation into an offshore entity the day after the failed launch and sold 17 percent of the tokens through the organization to a subset of people to circumvent securities laws. .
However, the defendants continued to market the remaining 83 percent of the tokens, making “no serious attempt” to restrict buyers outside the US.
“The project was clearly intended to take advantage of the U.S. market,” the complaint said.
Welch faced harsh backlash online when critics accused the 22-year-old and her team of taking part in the “money heist” scheme, which she later denied on X.
The failed memecoin is inspired by the internet celebrity who was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year after making a cheeky comment during a TikTok video that went viral
By Clinton “So he literally tied the success of the social media influencer like Welch to saying that the Token holders would essentially be shareholders,” the investors said.
“Despite these clear indications of its status as a security, the $HAWK token was not registered by Defendants,” she added.
“We have been extremely transparent about the limited scope and scale of our involvement in the Hawk Tuah token project. We are confident that we have done nothing wrong,” an overHere spokesperson said in an email. “As for any lawsuit, we will allow the process to proceed in court.”
Welch faced harsh backlash online when critics accused the 22-year-old and her team of taking part in the “money heist” scheme, which she later denied on X.
‘Copy and Paste: Hawkanomics: Team did not sell one token and not 1 KOL got 1 free token. We tried to deter snipers as best we could via high costs at the beginning of the launch on @MeteoraAG. The fees have now been removed,” she posted.
The failed memecoin was inspired by Welch, who was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year after a cheeky comment she made about oral sex during a TikTok video that went viral.
Since then, she’s made the most of her stardom by founding the custom merchandise company and a hit podcast, “Talk Tuah,” featuring comedians like Hannah Berner and Whitney Cummings, pop star JoJo Siwa and entrepreneur Mark Cuban.