Tim Dickerson and DeArius Marlow, the creators of the popular ‘Hawk Tuah’ video, have expressed that they had to go through great lengths to obtain the necessary permissions for their viral video featuring internet sensation Hailey Welch.
Hailey Welch, also known as the Hawk Tuah girl, has greatly benefited from her viral fame. In addition to receiving support from celebrities such as country singer Zach Bryan and NBA All-Star Shaq, she has earned over $65K through her collaboration with Fatheads for her merchandise.
Despite announcing in a popular Instagram post that she has enlisted the help of an attorney and a manager to guide her journey to fame, the duo behind her viral TikTok account, ‘TimandDeeTV,’ may prove to be strong competition for them.
Tim Dickerson and DeArius Marlow revealed in a recent interview with the New York Times that they have already submitted 50 copyright claims in order to secure the rights to their original video of Welch spitting on the ground and saying, “Hawk Tuah.”
After the video went viral, individuals on social media removed the ‘TimandDeeTV’ watermark, prompting the duo to pursue legal action.
Hailey Welch in the original Hawk Tuah video with TimandDeeTV.
Marlow stated that if they had not interviewed Welch at the bar in Nashville in June, she would not have gained viral attention. He added that Welch requested for them to make the questions more interesting, which ultimately led to the infamous question that resulted in her spitting incident becoming viral worldwide.
“Marlow told the NYT that if they had not brought it to light and posted it, nobody would have known who she was by the end of the day.”
Marlow also mentioned how viewers believed that Welch’s “Hawk Tuah”video marked the beginning of his and Dickerson’s rise to online fame.
“Many of the viewers who were unfamiliar with our work assumed that we gained success solely from this one clip. They treated us as if we were unknown and didn’t have an established platform,”he explained.
Although Marlow and Dickerson desire credit for initially launching Welch’s fame, they have not received a response from her lawyer regarding potential future collaborations.
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