A conspiracy theory last week claims that Haliey Welch, the "Hawk Tuah Girl," who became a viral sensation on the internet after saying what she does to drive men crazy in bed, is not originally from Tennessee at all, but rather an Israeli operative from the Mossad's Psychological Warfare Unit. The conspiracy has sparked antisemitic reactions, with some users of X, formerly known as Twitter, saying a DNA test has "proven" these claims.
Welch became a viral success after answering a question on camera what she does to drive men crazy in bed (giving them that "Hawk Tuah"). She later signed with an agency that saw her potential. The young woman, who succeeded thanks to a single spit, is now being spat on by thousands of online users who were surprised to discover that she may be Jewish. But is she?
When the interviewer asked her, "What’s the move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?" Welch, without hesitation, turned to the camera and said: "Oh, you’ve got to give him the 'hawk tuah' and spit on that thing, you know what I mean?" Her brief interview spawned memes that appeared everywhere online and turned her into a star. She leveraged her fame into a collaboration with a hat company to market "Hawk Tuah" hats, and it as announced that she would also be launching a podcast called "Talk Tuah" with YouTuber Jake Paul’s media company.
However, with her online fame came a conspiracy theory claiming that Hailey is an Israeli Jew who only went viral in part to the Israeli Mossad’s Psychological Warfare Unit. The theory originated from an X account named @ReloadedJu or "Trill Burr," who quoted the news about Welch launching a podcast and wrote: "Wait until you find out she’s a former Israeli soldier pretending to be a 'southern girl' after her billionaire father hired a PR firm to erase her past from the internet, especially her old TikTok videos where she didn’t even speak English, let alone have a fake Southern accent."
Wait til y’all find out she lowkey a former Israeli soldier cosplaying a southern belle after her billionaire dad hired a pr firm to scrub her past off the internet particularly her old TikTok where she ain’t even speak English let alone had a fake ass southern accent https://t.co/xlImbczxr1
— Trill Burr (@ReloadedJu) September 5, 2024
Although the source provided no evidence for these claims, his post garnered more than 873,000 views one thousand retweets, and 7,400 likes. The claims spread rapidly on social media, and soon there were antisemitic responses, like one published alongside an old photo of Welch with her friend: "She and her friend look pretty Jewish before they had their nose jobs." Another user who shared the photo wrote: "So the 'Hawk Tuah' girl is actually the daughter of an Israeli billionaire. How predictable. This is her before the nose job and fake accent." The responses were accompanied by a poll asking whether people believed she was Jewish.
So the "Hawk Tuah" girl is actually the daughter of an Israeli billionaire. Go figure This is her before the nose job and fake accent. https://t.co/An4WUdofbz
— ConsciousKat (@ConsciousKat1) September 6, 2024
The DNA test that sparked an uproar
The bizarre conspiracy likely gained traction following Welch’s appearance on Howie Mandel’s podcast, where they performed a quick (and completely unreliable) DNA test that revealed she is 97.7% Ashkenazi Jewish.
Hailey, who was raised in Tennessee by her grandmother, took this revelation lightly, mentioning that she had visited and enjoyed Katz’s Deli, a kosher-style delicatessen, during her last trip to New York. She also surprised the Jewish people in the room with her knowledge of Yiddish words like "schmuck" and "putz." This fueled the hatred against her online, a Walla report claimed, citing users writing on X: "No wonder she got famous thanks to the filthy Jewish media. Every single time." Another user added: "The 'Hawk Tuah' girl is a damned Zionist. That’s why her fame suddenly came 'out of nowhere.'"
Many have come to Welch’s defense, the report said, calling the theory ridiculous. "How the hell can someone 'look Jewish?'" one person wrote, while another added: "This is utter nonsense." Another user wrote: "I never thought I’d be here defending the 'Hawk Tuah' girl, but this is crazy to say without a shred of evidence backing it up." Another joked: "The Israeli government infiltrated social media to promote the 'Hawk Tuah' girl for…(?)"
The Jewish website Jewlicious wrote that the conspiracy theory’s creators would surely be disappointed to hear that there is no DNA test in the world that can reveal your ancestry within five minutes during a live broadcast. Welch could be Jewish, but the DNA test Mandel conducted for her was a fake.
"We assume the production team thought it would be funny to tell a girl from Tennessee that she’s Jewish, but Welch’s reaction was good and enthusiastic despite there being no real evidence proving her Jewish ancestry," they wrote.