"The real victim here"- The Hawk Tuah dad meme template goes viral, emerges as a massive hit on social media

The phrase Hawk Tuah has taken over the internet recently. This comes after Nashville native Hailey Welch used the term in a Tim & Dee TV street interview. As many joke about the interaction, others have wondered what Welch’s father’s reaction must be to her going viral for her comment.

YouTubers Tim & Dee TV uploaded an Instagram reel on June 11 where they interviewed two women on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. When DeArius Marlow asked the duo, “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?”

Hailey Welch answered in a southern accent:

“Oh, you gotta give him that hawk tuah and spit on that thing, you get me?”

Welch was quick to go viral across social media platforms, with the video amassing millions of views online.

Meanwhile, many wondered how Welch’s unidentified father must be coping with his daughter’s antics. Some hilarious memes about the same read:

Netizen creates a meme on the father’s reaction to the internet trend (Image via X)

Netizen creates a meme on the father’s reaction to the internet trend (Image via X)

Netizen creates a meme on the father’s reaction to the internet trend (Image via X)

It is worth noting that the exact identity of Welch’s father was unknown at the time of writing this article. However, speculations about the same have shown up online. Meanwhile, other rib-tickling memes read:

Netizen creates a meme on the father’s reaction to the internet trend (Image via X)

Netizen creates a meme on the father’s reaction to the internet trend (Image via X)

Netizen creates a meme on the father’s reaction to the internet trend (Image via X)

It has been reported that Welch is a preschool teacher. Other memes regarding her dad’s reaction to her social media stardom read:

Netizen creates a meme on the father’s reaction to the internet trend (Image via X)

Netizen creates a meme on the father’s reaction to the internet trend (Image via X)

Netizen creates a meme on the father’s reaction to the internet trend (Image via X)

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Netizens initially speculated that the Hawk Tuah girl was Ketucky’s Katie Vickers

Social media personality LD Basler, aka @ArmaLite15OU812, took to X on June 24 to claim that the woman behind the viral phrase was 25-year-old Katie Vickers who hails from Paducah, Kentucky.

The netizen also claimed that her father was Harley Vickers, “a prominent pastor of the Little Hope Baptist Church.” Basler reported what Harley supposedly felt about his daughter going viral for the Hawk Tuah meme. Harley reportedly said:

“This isn’t the kind of attention we wanted for our family. We hoped she’d spread the Good Word, not become a national laughing stalk.”

However, it is worth noting that Katie Vickers is not the woman behind the viral meme. Hailey Welch herself opened her own website to share her own Hawk Tuah merchandise.

Welch collaborated with fatheadthreads.com to sell her own Hawk Tuah 24 merchandise, which includes autographed hats being sold for $40 and unsigned ones being sold for $30.