Influencer Haliey Welch, widely known as the viral girl “Hawk Tuah,” is now at the center of a new legal battle after a crypto law firm decided to add her as a defendant in a growing federal class action lawsuit related to last year’s catastrophic collapse of the $HAWK coin.
According to a new court filing in the Eastern District of New York, Welch and his manager, Johnnie Forster, and their company, 16 Minutes LLC, allegedly played a key role in promoting a token that lawyers said was “designed to crash in minutes,” allowing insiders to unload the tokens during the launch frenzy and walk away with substantial profits.
Complaint says ‘Hawk Tuah’ personality was at heart of HAWK token collapse
Burwick Law, the firm leading the lawsuit, had previously left Welch out of the case. He now claims new evidence shows she earned as much as $325,000 for her involvement and became a “vital part” of a coordinated promotional pipeline that attracted retail buyers who trusted her public persona.
The updated complaint claims Welch agreed to an upfront payment of $125,000, with an additional $200,000 tied to promotional milestones, after signing a “Meme token creation and monetization agreement” with Memetic Labs five months before launch.
The filing says these payments elevated it from passive sponsor to a vital part of the token’s marketing funnel, even though the project allegedly made promises it technically couldn’t keep.
Welch, who rose to internet fame in 2024 thanks to a viral street interview and later launched the Talk Tuah podcast, had promoted HAWK as a cultural token that would integrate with her show and offer subscription-style benefits.
The lawsuit argues that none of these features were ever technically feasible.
The Solana-based token had a spectacular but short-lived debut. It skyrocketed to a market cap of $490 million in less than 15 minutes before plunging 93% almost immediately.
According to the complaint, this collapse was not the result of mismanagement but the result of a system designed for rapid extraction of value. Blockchain forensics links insider wallets to other alleged rug pulls, including LIBRA, M3M3, AIAI, and TRUMP’s snipe.
Can Welch escape HAWK’s shadow now that new fraud allegations have surfaced?
Individuals named in the fraud allegations include Memetic Labs, OverHere Limited, Clinton So, Alex “Doc Hollywood” Schultz, the Tuah Foundation and several connected wallet clusters.
Welch is not accused of securities violations or false advertising, but the suit claims she benefited financially from a scheme targeting inexperienced traders.
The lawsuit draws comparisons to other high-profile meme token implosions. LIBRA, promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei, collapsed within hours of its launch and is now the center of multiple investigations, although the country’s anti-corruption watchdog later cleared Milei of wrongdoing.
Earlier this year, TRUMP, a Solana token branded by Donald Trump, also fell within days of its launch. Burwick Law alleges that all of these projects shared similar on-chain patterns and insider trading behavior.
Welch’s relationship with HAWK has been rocky since the collapse. At the time, she issued a public apology, saying she was “fully cooperating” with lawyers representing the harmed investors.
Her legal team told media that she was acting solely as a paid developer and had no knowledge of the technical or financial operations behind the project.
In subsequent interviews, Welch said federal agents questioned her and briefly seized her phone during their examination.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ultimately cleared her, and the influencer said the ordeal left her regretting that her involvement misled fans.
The renewed push to add him as a defendant marks the most significant turning point since investors first filed suit in December 2024, claiming more than $151,000 in losses from the crash.
‘Hawk Tuah’ Star Sued Over $325,000 Meme Coin ‘Designed to Crash’ – Will Holders Recover? appeared first on Cryptonews.
