Creators of the viral ‘Hawk Tuah’ video, Tim Dickerson and DeArius Marlow, said they’ve had to jump through hoops to gain the rights to their viral video of newfound internet star Hailey Welch.
Hailey Welch, known as the Hawk Tuah girl, has majorly profited from her viral fame. Not only have celebrities like country artist Zach Bryan and NBA All-Star Shaq co-signed her unique vibe, she’s also made over $65K from her merchandise collaboration with Fatheads.
Though she stated in a viral Instagram post that she has hired an attorney and a manager to help navigate her rise to stardom, the creators of her viral TikTok, ‘TimandDeeTV,’ might give them a run for their money.
In an interview with the New York Times, Tim Dickerson and DeArius Marlow shared that they have already filed 50 copyright claims for the rights to the initial video they posted of Welch spitting onto the ground while saying, “Hawk Tuah.”
Once the video blew up, social media users got rid of the ‘TimandDeeTV’ watermark, leaving the duo to take up the matter legally.
Hailey Welch in the original Hawk Tuah video with TimandDeeTV.
Marlow went on to claim that, had they not interviewed Welch at the bar scene in Nashville in June, she would have never gone viral. He also said that Welch asked the duo to “spice up the questions” – leading to the query that prompted the viral glob of spit heard around the world.
“At the end of the day, nobody would know who she was if we didn’t bring it to light and post it,” Marlow told the NYT.
Marlow also talked about how viewers thought Welch’s “Hawk Tuah” video was the start of his and Dickerson’s online fame.
“A lot of the audience who hadn’t seen us before think we grew off this one clip. People were treating it like we’re nobodies and didn’t already have a platform,” he said.
Though Marlow and Dickerson would like to see credit for launching Welch’s fame, they haven’t heard back from her lawyer about collaborating on anything else.