Haliey Welch is finally breaking her silence about the crypto mess from last year, though it’s stirring up fresh drama.
In a new Talk Tuah episode with FaZe Banks (who’s now blasting the video’s leak and telling Welch to clean house), the “Hawk Tuah” viral star broke down while reflecting on December’s controversy.
“I’m still a little shook up about it,” Welch shared while Banks explained why he agreed to do the show with some “crypto nerds” alongside him. She then tried thanking her supporters but got choked up.
“I wanna start by saying thank you to all my true fans and all the people that actually watch my stuff and keep up with me,” she said. “We’re trying to sort out all the pieces and stuff to get all this figured out and make everything right. Oh my god. I’m gonna cry.”
When the tears came, Welch noted, “It rolled out.” Looking back at how she got into crypto, she admitted she wasn’t an expert and had doubts, but said the project was sold to her as a chance to do some good in the crypto world.
Welch explained her initial understanding of the project: “So basically how this idea got bought to me, it was supposed to be more of a long-term coin,” she shared. “The guy that ran the account, he was like, ‘oh, we’re gonna change the way everybody thinks of crypto, crypto is gonna be a good place.’ And I feel really bad for all the people that got affected by it. It just didn’t go the way I planned.”
They then discussed some shady launch day moves that caught Welch’s eye, and how she started realizing “something’s wrong” despite what she’d been promised.
“It was supposed to be done the right way. … It was brought to me in a positive way, something good and long-term, but it didn’t go that route at all,” she admitted, calling it “a smack in the face.”
Here’s the weird part – you won’t find this full Talk Tuah episode anywhere official right now. While bits are floating around social media, it’s nowhere on the official Talk Tuah YouTube channel as of Friday morning. Welch hasn’t mentioned it on her socials either.
Banks hit X Thursday saying Welch’s team had “completely fucking fumbled the bag yet again” and called it all a “fucking mess.” He also spilled that he only agreed to do the episode if it wouldn’t drop without his team’s green light.
Last December, YouTuber Coffeezilla dropped a video called “Exposing the Hawk Tuah Scam,” breaking down what he saw as red flags in the $HAWK launch. While critics were calling it a “rug pull,” the team behind it fought back against those claims.
After legal threats started making noise, Welch jumped on X with a statement promising to help those caught up in the mess.
“I take this situation extremely seriously and want to address my fans, the investors who have been affected, and the broader community,” she wrote. “I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter.”
