Hailey 'Hawk Tuah' Welch Speaks Out After Backlash for Throwing Mets First Pitch

Hailey Welch, aka, “Hawk Tuah” girl, isn’t sweating the backlash she received for throwing the first pitch before the Mets game yesterday (Aug. 15).

“So I guess some of the baseball community wasn’t too happy to see me yesterday 😬,” she wrote in a post on X.

Instead of lashing out at those who had an issue with her, she took the opportunity to shout out the cause that she was actually there for.

“The main reason I went to the game was to spread awareness and donate to America’s vet dogs which pairs dogs with war veterans for a forever home,” she revealed.

Welch taking the field for the Mets’ big moment rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way, who believed that she doesn’t deserve the spotlight that she’s built around herself. One of those nonbelievers is Sal Licata, a radio host for WFAN who spoke about the moment on his show.

“The Yankees have Aaron Judge and Juan Soto breaking records,” he said. “(Babe) Ruth, (Mickey) Mantle, (Lou), Gehrig and the Mets have Grimace and now ‘Hawk Tuah.’ Come on, bro, I can’t take it, I cannot take it anymore.”

“It’s ridiculous,” he continued. “And then you wonder why fans get so ticked off and upset. It’s embarrassing.”

Welch has been riding her wave of fame ever since going viral for giving her suggestion about how to make a man “go crazy every time” in June.

Since then, Welch has worked hard to further her brand. She quit her job working at a factory and filed a trademark for apparel and entertainment services for “Hawk Tuah.” The filing came under her new company, 16 Minutes, LLC.

Helping her on her journey to the top is Shaquille O’ Neal, who linked up with her in Nashville shortly after her viral moment kicked off and gave her a ton of knowledge about how to deal with navigating viral fame.