New Orleans newspaper gets hilarious ‘Hawk Tuah’ reference in front page headline – leaving readers stunned

A New Orleans newspaper went viral online after its front page featured a hilarious reference to the “Hawk Tuah” craze.

The popular video of a girl giving a very explicit description of her sexual escapades – in which she imitates the spitting sound she makes – has caused a real hype on social media over the past week.

A number of public figures have embraced the trend since the clip surfaced, with UFC legend Conor McGregor even helping fans track down the unknown girl in question.

WWE star Logan Paul also caused a stir on social media by pulling off a “Hawk Tuah” move during his final performance in New York on Friday night.

And not only is she making waves online, the ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl is even getting subtle mentions in the headlines.

On Friday, social media user Jono Barnes made a hilarious suggestion to New Orleans newspaper The Times Picayune after the city’s NBA team, the Pelicans, sealed a trade for Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks.

Barnes posted on

And to his disbelief, it was revealed later that evening that the publication had indeed run the headline ‘FROM A HAWK TO A PELICAN’ on the front page of its Saturday edition.

Barnes posted a preview image of the front page and wrote, “I’m right to cry. They really did it!* New Orleans is the greatest city in the world.”

The ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl has now been identified as Tennessee’s Haliey Welch after McGregor led the hunt to find her on social media.

After posting on X that he wanted to find the girl in question, the Irishman followed an account of ‘Haliey Welch’ which was private but had 34,000 followers.

The Times Picayune cleverly headlined that NBA star Dejounte Murray was traded from the Hawks to the Pelicans after a fan’s suggestion on social media

Welch’s biography says she is in Tennessee and her moment of fame came from an interview on the streets of Nashville.

Many other fans on social media claim that Welch is the girl in question. Some even shared photos from her alleged account before it went private.

But McGregor has been accepted as a follower – and Welch is one of 2,519 people following the MMA star on his Instagram account.

Welch has also started selling merchandise after going viral for the June 19 interview.

She has partnered with Tennessee company Fathead Threads to sell her own line of hats.

“I was given permission to sell these hats after speaking with Hailey. She will receive a portion of the profits from the sale,” Jason Poteete of Fathead Threads shared on Facebook.

The ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl – identified as Hailey Welch (right) – sells two different types of hats with the text written on them, one with a leather patch and one with an embroidered

The company posted a photo of Welch signing two different types of hats, one with a leather patch and one embroidered, that are available for purchase.

Unsigned embroidered ‘Hawk Tuah’ hats retail for $32.70, while signed caps are on sale for $43.70.

Hats with the leather “Hawk Tuah” patch and a signature cost $50 and unsigned versions cost $40.