Popular viral star Hailey Welch scammed die-hard fans with a meme coin on Dec. 4, 2024, and is now facing severe backlash, including lawsuits and diminished reputation.

The meme coin she promoted was initially seen as a hot new investment. As with many meme coins, excitement ran high, and the market cap surged to an impressive $500 million. However, like Welch’s fame, the hype didn’t take long to deflate. The coin’s value plummeted 95%, leaving investors reeling and suddenly costing many investors thousands of dollars.

However, it is estimated that Welch made over $1 million on the meme coin herself, raising serious questions about what many considered a crypto scam.

Many others were left with nothing, their hopes diminished as they scrambled to sell before they lost even more. While Welch didn’t directly pull the rug herself, she played a key role in promoting the coin, drawing in countless fans who trusted her endorsements.

This sparked various lawsuits into the alleged fraud.

Things escalated further when Welch participated in a call with crypto investigator CoffeeZilla, who has made a name for himself by exposing cryptocurrency scams. The call attracted 200,000 listeners, and Welch’s credibility took a significant hit.

The conversation revealed some tension, especially when one of the crypto creators involved expressed frustration, saying, “I’m gonna count myself as mentally ill for even being here right now.” It became clear that Welch’s involvement had crossed a line, and the fallout was inevitable.

Since the scandal broke, Welch had gone silent, retreating from the public eye by not posting for two months.

Saint Paul’s senior Trey Rather saw it coming: “Hailey Welch’s internet appearance is not a shock to me. I feel like she had it coming after the $HAWK coin scandal.”

As a result, Welch disappeared from the internet until recently when a podcast she dropped was leaked to the internet.

Her last words before her online hiatus were a simple, almost sarcastic remark: “Anyhoo I’m going to bed.” In the days that followed, her online presence dwindled, with only a vague statement about never having been to jail. Now, she’s fully cooperating with lawyers and has been staying quiet, choosing to play the waiting game while the legal and public fallout continues to unfold.

However, as of February 6, a new episode of Talk Tuah—which was quickly deleted by Welch—was leaked to YouTube. The episode featured the leader of FaZe, FaZe Banks. Welch opened up about the entire ordeal and was comforted by Banks while doing so. She claimed she knew nothing about crypto and portrayed herself as a victim.

A quick sponsor ad in her podcast left a bad taste on everyone. In her reply to a friend, she casually said, “Yeah,” after her friend remarked, “Gametime is more loyal than most of y’all’s mans out here.” This remark upset the majority of her audience.

To mitigate the damage, Welch mentioned that she would donate all the money earned from the episode to help animals affected by the LA wildfires. Although this sounded admirable, the episode could not generate any revenue if it was deleted. This appears to be an attempt to regain her fans by demonstrating generosity while maintaining the victim narrative.

In the end, Hailey Welch’s rise to internet fame might be a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked hype, fleeting fame, and the fine line between entertaining authenticity and exploitation.

Just an ordinary woman working early mornings at a bedspring factory in Belfast, Tennessee, Welch’s life took a drastic turn after a chance encounter with the YouTube channel Tim & Dee TV during a typical night out with her friend. When asked a question, she blurted out a now-iconic phrase that went viral the next day.

Social media took off with this impromptu moment, propelling her into viral stardom. Seizing the opportunity, Welch wasted no time establishing her presence across social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.

With a growing fanbase, her connections expanded, bringing her to events like Zach Bryan’s concert in Nashville, where she got invited on stage.

Soon enough, she was making waves on podcasts, striking brand deals, and even selling merchandise to her fans. It was hard to ignore her, as she was suddenly seen at Jake Paul’s party after the Tyson fight, associating with the likes of celebrities and influencers.

As her fame surged, whispers grew louder that she did not deserve the fame she was garnering. “Hawk Tuah was nothing more than an industry plant. It was pushed onto my feed, and I couldn’t escape it,” Saint Paul’s senior Tyson Burns voiced.

Taking advantage of her newfound fame, Welch launched her own podcast, The Talk Tuah with Hailey Welch. The podcast became a platform where she interviewed major figures like Mark Cuban, JoJo Siwa, and Wiz Khalifa. It quickly became a top-5 ranked podcast on Spotify in terms of listeners.

The title of one of her most popular episodes, “How to Avoid Getting Canceled,” now feels deeply ironic. In it, Welch joked about her relationship with the law, claiming to have never been to jail—”yet.”

Now, her involvement in the meme coin scam has her facing the risk of potential jail time, and her mother’s past incarceration only added to the bitter irony.

It remains to be seen if she can ever rebuild her reputation, but for now, her story serves as a reminder of how quickly things can turn when money, fame, and internet attention collide.

Welch was out of her depth when she started a meme coin she knew nothing about, and this saga shows that newfound fame can quickly go to people’s heads and have major, real-life consequences on others.

Feature Image Photo Credit: AFP