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On August 17, Hailey Welch, also known as the Hawk Tuah Girl, took to her Instagram to share her motivation for attending the baseball game held at Citi Field in Queens, New York. The internet sensation recently faced criticism from netizens for her appearance at the event on August 17.
She was invited by the NYC Mets as the special guest at the game, where she threw the ceremonial first pitch. After a clip of her throwing the pitch went viral, X users reacted with comments like ‘Disgusting! Do Better Mets!’
Social media users also suggested that her appearance was inappropriate, and NYC Mets were also criticized for choosing her as the special guest. Amidst all criticisms, Hawk Tuah Girl took to her Instagram to disclose her reason for attending the baseball game.
“So I guess the baseball community wasn’t too happy to see me yesterday. That’s okay, the main reason I went to the game was to spread awareness and donate to America’s Vet Dogs @americasvetdogs which pairs dogs with war veterans for a forever home”, wrote Hailey Welch.
She revealed she went to the game to spread awareness about America’s Vet Dogs, a non-profit organization. Her post included a video in which she was seen interacting with a service dog named Buddy. When asked about her appearance by Newsweek, in an article published on August 16, she said:
“We went to a baseball game yesterday to do good and get more eyes on helping veterans and animals. I also got to throw the first pitch, but at the end of the day, it's about helping people and pets. And that's what I want to focus on and keep doing.”
Hawk Tuah Girl became an internet sensation in June
In June, Instagram creators Tim & Dee called Hailey Welch on the street and asked what she did in bed to make a man go crazy. She responded that she would go for the old-fashioned ‘Hawk Tuah’ which meant spitting on the thing. This interview went viral and netizens started calling her the Hawk Tuah Girl.
Meanwhile, following her appearance at the game, American radio host Mike Francesa also spoke about his impression of Hawk Tuah Girl on the August 16 episode of the Mike Francesa Podcast released on YouTube. He was already frustrated at the team’s performance against Oakland Athletics as they played a 5-0 lead after three innings and lost 7-6. This was the team’s defeat in six matches.
“I know nothing about this, and I am gonna call her young lady and I know she is in her 15 minutes of fame. She, just you know struck a chord and went viral with some sleazy answer to a man on the street question”, Mike Francesa said.
He added:
“Knowing that that’s the case, that her fleeting fame was about something as suggestive as her answer was, what in the world would possess the Mets to bring her in to throw out the first ball? And, on top of it, on camp day.”
After becoming an internet star, Hawk Tuah Girl also appeared on a Barstool podcast hosted by the influencer Bri LaPaglia. In that podcast which was released in July, Hailey Welch talked about her personal life and said that she used to work in a bed spring factory.
She played an on-stage cameo role at a Zach Bryan show. Additionally, reports suggest that she has also signed with an agent to propagate her influencer career.
