Hawk Tuah Girl and the 15 Minutes of Fame

The problem with becoming famous by accident, or without a discernible skill, is that you have no idea what you're doing. And to keep the fame going it's hard to keep a sense of autonomy and selfhood.

Haliey Welch became an internet phenomenon because of the two seconds when she quipped, "you gotta hawk tuah, spit on that thing."

She had charisma, she was pretty. She was a good Southern girl spouting something a bit dirty. For reasons we don't fully understand, this catapulted her to stardom.

And by stardom, I don't mean she became Elvis Presley. Only a handful of people in your family know who this woman is, and the rest will remain blissfully unaware.

But with her newfound stardom, she began flogging merch. She turned up on stage at concerts. She started a podcast.

And then it all came crashing down when some guys talked her into partaking in a crypto project.

Suddenly, Hawk Tuah Girl had a memecoin.

If you're at all interested in the rise and fall of Haliey Welch, then you probably don't need me to explain what happened. And if this story is totally new to you, you're probably losing interest already.

There's the possibility that her plan all along was to get famous and then scam people out of millions of dollars, but honestly, that seems very unlikely.

More likely is she was talked into attaching her name and brand to the launch of a new crypto coin.

(Note: if you need someone to explain what a memecoin is, or even what crypto is, go read a different blog because honestly, crypto is still baffling and pointless to me.)

But what happened next, is a Pump and Dump. The Hawk Tuah Girl pumped up excitement about the coin to her followers. As people invested their money, insiders dumped their investments, and pocketed heaps of money.

Suddenly, this seemingly sweet girl is the face of a complex scam, and there's talk of her being sued.

Here's a video of the brilliant CoffeeZilla laying it all out.

Now — I don't know if she'll get arrested or sued, that's internet talk. And as I told you, I know nothing about crypto.

But for me, knowing nothing about crypto is an asset. Because if you ask me to invest in your special coin, or to launch my own coin, I'm going to know to say no. And sure, I wouldn't mind a get rich quick scheme right now, but I know it won't work out. And I know I have other skills that I can keep building and honing.

But what Haliey Welch relied on, was attention.

And she didn't want to keep rehashing the Hawk Tuah thing, because that was just a spontaneous twist of fate that happened when she was drunk.

But when you're famous for no reason -- if you want to keep things going -- you have to find a new reason to keep holding attention. You get desperate.

It could be argued that, prior to this controversy, Haliey Welch was winning. But the problem with the 15 Minutes of fame is that it will always, without fail, come to an end.

There was a TikTokker last year, whose name I've already forgotten, who got famous with the gym bros almost overnight. He was a skinny kid who was becoming famous in the gym community. It went to his head and before he had a chance to catch a breath he was collaborating with OnlyFans girls. His fan base hated it and the only thing to do was post an apology video. This kid never planned to get famous. When it happened, he didn't have a clue what he was doing. It was too much for the guy.

If you don't mean or expect to get famous - but it happens - the attention will wreck you. Your normality changes. People recognise you in the street. People online have strong opinions about whether you're doing right or wrong. But how can you do the right thing when all your famous for is having charisma during a street interview?

I hope those who invested in the Hawk Tuah coin didn't lose a lot of money. And I also hope Haliey Welch is doing okay. She's been on a rollercoaster, with no clue what she's doing - and with a lot of people helping push her along. That's not to say she doesn't bear some responsibility for what's happened. She's an adult, and she'll need to take accountability for her decisions.

But I hope that whatever comes next -- and I suspect it'll be less in the spotlight -- that she finds some peace. And media blogs like mine will stop having opinions about what she's doing.