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Whether they wanted to be famous or it happened by accident, these viral stars went from regular people to having millions of followers overnight.
Explores the rise and fall of viral stars like Backpack Kid and Salt Bae, highlighting the challenges of sudden fame and its aftermath.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
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Key Takeaways
- Rapid viral fame often leads to equally rapid decline without careful career management.
- Overexposure can damage a viral star's reputation and audience perception.
- Trying to diversify too quickly without genuine talent can backfire.
- Legal actions related to viral content can harm a star’s image if not well-founded.
- Sustaining fame requires maturity, strategic decisions, and evolving beyond initial viral moments.
What the video covers
- Viral stars often rise quickly to fame but face sharp declines soon after.
- The Backpack Kid gained fame through Instagram dance videos and a viral SNL performance.
- Despite initial success, Backpack Kid's overexposure and poor career decisions led to his downfall.
- He unsuccessfully tried to branch into music and filed a controversial lawsuit over the 'floss' dance.
- Salt Bae became a global sensation with his unique salt-sprinkling style and expanded into a restaurant empire.
- Salt Bae faced criticism for overpriced menu items and questions about his culinary skills.
- The video discusses the fleeting nature of internet fame and the difficulties viral stars face sustaining their careers.
- It highlights the pressure viral stars feel to capitalize on their moment, often leading to missteps.
- The narrative contrasts youthful mistakes with more calculated but still flawed adult decisions in fame management.
- Ultimately, the video shows how viral fame can be both an opportunity and a trap.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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However, the quicker the rise, the sharper the fall. And today we are going to discuss how these people used their 15 minutes of fame and how nearly all of them ended in disaster. Starting with the Backpack Kid, who is a perfect
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example of making all of the wrong decisions during a brief stint in popularity. Before TikTok became the go-to app to share mediocre dance moves to a global audience, 16-year-old Russell Horning was bored, uploading dance videos to Instagram with zero
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expectations. Initially, his signature dance style was funny. His core was stiff. His lanky arms just kind of flailed around while he stared emotionless into the camera.
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Additionally, he often wore goofy outfits and chose to dance to silly songs. [Music] Russell was extremely recognizable after watching just one video, which led to him gaining a small following on IG. But his entire life changed when Rihanna
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posted one of his videos to her 54 million followers. She tagged Russell in a post celebrating her Grammy nominations, and he gained over 40,000 followers in one day. To capitalize on the momentum, Russell pumped out as many dance videos as he could, skyrocketing
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him up to over 500,000 followers. There was one particular dance called the floss that seemed to get him the most views, with many people falsely crediting him as the inventor of the move. However, his videos were not getting shared because he was an
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excellent dancer, but rather because he was a meme. Whenever he did collaborate with other dancers, he was often seen as the weakest one. Despite this, opportunities were being thrown his way because of his follower count. Like when Katy Perry personally requested that he
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dance for her Saturday Night Live performance in May of 2017. Russell absolutely stole the show, flossing aggressively while staring deadpan into the souls of millions of live viewers.
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He also strategically chose to wear a backpack, rebranding himself as the Backpack Kid. The SNL appearance gained him millions of followers, and the floss became a global dance craze. The Backpack Kid was an internet sensation, but he made a few key mistakes that
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ultimately led to his downfall. Firstly, Russell took every interview and press opportunity he could get. Viral stars will get thousands of dollars thrown at them just to do collaborations with media outlets, podcasters, or live entertainment companies. So, what you
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just getting paid to go show up at parties and [ __ ] like that? Yeah, clubs and parties and festivals and performances and stuff. So, you just pop out on stage, you do the dance, everybody goes crazy. Yeah, that's
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pretty much how it goes. Yeah, that's tight. How much, uh, can you get to go to a club if you don't mind letting us know? Um, manager shakes his head no.
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Manager shakes his head no. Is it an amount that you're pretty impressed by? Like, are you surprised that you're able to get that much money just to go somewhere? Compared to most 17-year-olds, the money that I make from
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just one appearance, it could take a 17-year-old forever to make that much money. It's hard to blame someone for making easy money. Then again, the overexposure bothers people because they perceive Russell as a one-trick pony who doesn't deserve thousands of dollars or
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recognition from these big platforms. Remember before the internet when you actually had to do something to get famous, but then reasonable criticism turned into straight-up hatred. He looks like one of those inflatable aliens you win at an amusement park. This kid
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manchild thing scares me. Since he became famous for literally one thing, he had to branch out and try to find other ways to entertain his audience.
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So, he decided to pursue music, releasing one of the worst songs of all time, Flossen. Although Russell claimed that he was passionate about music, his songs felt like someone who was barely trying or maybe even just joking rather
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than a serious artistic endeavor. Virality made Russell feel pressured to just keep doing what is paying the bills. So, he resorted back to his one dance move, which ultimately led to a situation where he tried to perform on a
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stage that he was not wanted on. [Music] [Applause] Whether it be main character syndrome or just a simple misunderstanding, his dance move lost all of its appeal,
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and doing it made him seem like he was desperately hanging on to his viral moment, which was made 10 times worse when he filed a lawsuit against Fortnite for putting the dance in their game. It was really my mom and my management that did the lawsuit. I'm kind of just a kid having fun in life. I'm just letting the
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adults do all the busy work. I don't really know the law like that, so I can't really say if they're like taking advantage of me or anything like that, but like from a mom standpoint, like a manager standpoint, they think that
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they're taking advantage of me. A couple days after the lawsuit was filed, videos dating as far back as 2011 were resurfaced showing people who were doing the dance long before the Backpack Kid.
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Simply put, he did not own the dance, and many viewed it as one final attempt to cash in on his fading relevance.
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Unsurprisingly, Russell and his team voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit shortly after. The Backpack Kid's 15 minutes of fame were officially over.
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And despite being hated by the masses and falling off to the point where he receives less than 1,000 views per video, these days, Russell actually seems happier than when he was at his peak. He is pursuing music more
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seriously and remains dedicated to pushing out a positive message to the world. But as I got older, I started having a more mature mindset on money. I realized that it's important to choose good decisions on how to spend your
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money. I was just invited to do an anti-vaping commercial for the American Lung Association. And of course, my first thoughts were, "Oh, yeah." 'Cause I don't vape. I don't smoke. I definitely don't encourage it. Then again, he openly
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accepted the opportunity to be on Kaisenat's stream where he was absolutely embarrassed by Duski.
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Get the out of your stupid ass. Sure, this was just a skit, but Russell was the butt of the joke. Once again, becoming a viral star at age 16 is definitely difficult to manage. Maybe he was just young and misguided. However,
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the same justification cannot be made for Salt Bae, who is a grown man that should have known better than to be acting like a fool. In 2017, a video of Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe went viral of him dramatically slicing steak, then
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sprinkling salt from his fingertips down his forearm and onto the meat. What made this so ridiculous was his dedication to making salt sprinkling look like some sort of fancy artistic technique.
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Combine that with his handsome Johnny Depp resemblance, and the internet gave him the nickname Salt Bae. Salt Bae didn't just embrace the meme, he became it. He continued posting obnoxious videos of him caressing raw meat, dancing with raw meat, and of course his
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signature salting. He was shouted out by celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Drake, and even cooked for the king of Jordan. The internet fame didn't just gain him followers. It launched his career as a global restaurant owner. He launched and expanded his Nusret
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steakhouse empire to over 20 locations worldwide, racking up tens of millions of dollars in revenue. However, with more exposure comes more criticism. Many began to wonder if he was actually this mystical, passionate culinary artist or just another guy trying to cash in on
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some fame. One major critique was the outrageous prices at his restaurants that had patrons feeling more scammed than served. Take the Salt Bae Golden Experience, for example, where Salt Bae will personally serve you your food with a show. A single Tomahawk steak costs
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nearly $1,000, and a burger will set you back almost $200. Now, the
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blowing insane amounts of money on dumb things isn't exactly shocking. If anything, it fits his brand perfectly.
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This is the guy who made something as simple as sprinkling salt look like Michelangelo chiseling the final details onto David. However, the real reason people turned on Salt Bay was much more embarrassing than a $200 burger. At the
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2022 World Cup, after Argentina defeated France, Salt Bay somehow ended up on the pitch celebrating the victory with the team. How did he even get there? Cameras caught him pulling on Messi's arm practically forcing him into a handshake. Messi, the greatest football
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player of all time, clearly was just wanting to move forward, but Salt Bay would not let go. Messi finally gave in and shook his hand just to get it over with, but Salt Bay held on tight and pulled him into a photo. You can see it
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all over Messi's face that he had no idea who this guy was or why he was even there. It was clear Salt Bay was trying to steal this big moment for himself.
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But it gets worse. He grabbed the World Cup trophy like he won the damn thing and even did his signature salt sprinkling move over it. As if that wasn't cringy enough, he was posing for pictures with players with their medal
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in his mouth. These players dreamed and worked their whole lives for this once-in-a-lifetime moment, only for some clout chaser to steal some publicity to promote his overpriced stakes. He responded to the backlash with an apology, claiming he didn't step on the
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pitch for advertising reasons, but the damage was already done, and Saltbay's 15 minutes of fame were over. Salt Bay has shut down multiple restaurants after the hype has died down. Many of his remaining locations are drowning in poor
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reviews and his London restaurant is down €4.3 million as customers have realized his food is way overpriced.
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Salt Bay has resorted to selling his high-end food online now. In May of last year, people started to notice that his steakhouse was listed on Deliveroo and Uber Eats, selling his Salt Bay Tomahawk for $500 and a strip loin for almost
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$900, proving he really hasn't learned from his critics. Then again, there are plenty of rich people out there willing to waste money on overpriced food just because they can. And his virality and social media following alone will easily
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keep him in business for the rest of his life. But if you think Salt Bay was making a fool of himself, it doesn't even remotely compare to the Island Boys, whose fall-off is much more disgusting than you could ever imagine.
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The Island Boys are a duo made up of twin brothers Alex Fly Soldier and Frankie Kodiak Red. two aspiring Florida men covered in face tattoos who blew up overnight in 2021 after they posted a Tik Tok video of them freestyling in a
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hot tub. Oh, I'm a island boy. Hey, I'm just boy. I'm just boy. People couldn't decide if the tune was the worst thing they'd ever heard or lowkey kind of a banger. I'm a island boy. What is happening? I don't know and
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ain't trying to understand it. Plus, hip hop has a history for blowing up artists who ride the paper thin line between trash and fire. Rapper Kodak Black even offered them a record deal after their viral video, which is insane because
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this wasn't even a real song yet, just two goofballs mumbling in a hot tub.
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They turned down the deal, claiming that they wanted to stay independent, but this was a huge mistake. They believe they could make it on their own talent but if we're being honest, most of their fame came from people clowning them. I
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played this song at my sister's funeral. She got out of the casket to shut it off. Thank you, island boys. This is the 0.01% of germs that Bleach can't kill.
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When they decided to finally cut the record over a beat and released it with a music video, it was somehow worse.
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This the type of hidden talent that should absolutely remain hidden. Like many other viral stars, they were paid to do appearances at clubs, which became a prime example of when social media meets reality. At Miami's Club Live, the
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audience began booing the Island Boys on stage. [Applause] Once music fans realized the Island Boys had no capability of making a somewhat decent song, there was really no reason to pay attention to them and their 15 minutes of fame was about to be up. The
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boys needed a new way to profit from their fame. So, they began selling personalized videos to fans on Cameo which apparently was very lucrative.
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According to their previous manager they owe me about like $150,000 from what? Your percentage of the Cameo money? Yeah. Is that the only money they're bringing in? Um, mostly, maybe a little bit on TikTok, but I mean, it's
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pretty much run dry at this point right? How many cameos are they doing? When I when I was with them, it they was coming in hot. They were viral. It was going like 2 three hours a night straight cameos. But with them spending
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all of their money on designer clothes jewelry, cars, and mansions, they needed to keep going viral to maintain this lifestyle, which almost always resulted in them making absolute fools of themselves on the internet. Yeah, she likes the way you looks. She thinks she
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looks good. Uhhuh. They also might have needed some money to hire security because the gangster persona was not convincing enough.
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I'm a real gangster. In what could only be called an unhinged move and in hindsight the final nail in their career's coffin, the Island Boys launched a fansley, which is basically just an OAF. And it wasn't just embarrassing, it was downright
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sickening. In 2023, the Island Boys posted a video of them kissing each other in a publicity stunt to market their NSFW content, instantly going viral for the second time. The video got them a huge amount of backlash, with
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many calling it outright incest, which it is. The twins insisted it wasn't sexual and was only meant to get a reaction, claiming that they just wanted to see how effed up this world is. And it turns out they were right about this
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world because after their kissing stunt it was reported that the Island Boys made almost $400,000 in 3 months just on their NSFW content, temporarily funding their lavish lifestyle. But of course this resulted in more public humiliation. What's going on with the
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that's with with you two kissing each other and bro? Shut your ass up and break this. Hey yo, that ass that ass. I would love to see you try that, bro.
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What are you talking? I would love to see you try that. What the [ __ ] bro?
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Oh my god. The desperate attempts to remain in the spotlight combined with a severe lack of talent and expensive lifestyle has led to incredibly lows for the Island Boys. Kodiak Red was arrested for drug possession and an illegal
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firearm during a traffic stop. During the stop, a plastic bag containing white pills was found on the passenger side floorboard in plain view. The pills were identified as oxycodone. A further search of the vehicle uncovered a brown handbag containing a handgun with its
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serial numbers removed along with a cut straw with a white powdery substance. These days, they pretty much spend all of their time promoting their NSFW content. And trust me when I say they went much further than just kissing each
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other. And if we're being honest, this will likely remain a consistent income stream for them, as there are definitely still a ton of people out there that are willing to pay to see this type of degeneracy. But unlike the Island Boys
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sometimes we actually find ourselves rooting for a viral star. We hope that they become successful after their 15 minutes are up. Like the case of Mason Ramsay, who became a breakout star when a video went viral of him yodelling in
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the middle of Walmart in Harrisburg Illinois. Lord, I don't know what to do. All I do is hold that last. The clip racked up tens of millions of views in just a few days, turning the 11-year-old Mason into
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a worldwide meme. Not only is Yodelling kind of objectively hilarious, but a child singing a song that was 70 years old was oddly charming. Because of his viral performance, the original song Hank Williams' Lovesick Blues skyrocketed all the way to the third
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spot on Spotify's viral 50 chart. Within weeks, Ramsay was sitting across from Ellen DeGeneres, who got him invited to perform at the legendary Grand Old Opry.
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From there, he was embraced by thousands of fans while performing at Coachella. Major record labels noticed his potential and eventually Mason would secure a deal with Atlantic Records and Big Loud. The minute Mason and his family walked into Big Loud, I knew we
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had to work with him. He is a star, but most importantly, he is a downto-earth kid who loves country music. The Ramsies are an amazing family from a small southern Illinois town just like me. We understood them and their goals and
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simply fell in love with their story and vision, proving that he wasn't just a meme. His debut single, Famous, secured the number four spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and peaked at number 62 on the Hot 100. But viral memes
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naturally have an expiration date, and soon Mason Ramsay's 15 minutes of fame were over. When the pandemic hit, it forced Mason to take a step back.
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However, he used his time away from the spotlight as best as someone could in his position. While his voice was maturing, he focused on refining his talent, writing music, and finding his own sound beyond the yodelling kid in
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Walmart that made him famous. Mason released three EPs that gained over 500 million streams combined and secured hundreds of millions of views on his music videos. By 2024, at 17 years old he decided it was time to take the next
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step in his career and release a fulllength album titled I'll See You in My Dreams. A song featured on the project called Blue All Over caught a lot of attention through Tik Tok for its classic old country appeal and I can
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confirm it is a beautiful song. Now in 2025, Mason Ramsay recently announced his first major headlining tour that has 15 stops. Mason's rise to fame started almost exactly the same as everyone else in this video. But instead of trying to
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chase more fleeting viral moments or make some quick cash, he honed in on his craft, worked hard, and simply gave the people exactly what they wanted. genuine talent and entertainment. This was one of the few times social media made the
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right person famous, the only viral kid that didn't switch up after the fame. So, while Mason worked hard and focused on genuine entertainment, Bobby Alto seems to ignore both of those things. As many people are genuinely confused how
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someone who has done so little has achieved so much success. Bobby Alto started as a mommy Tik Tocker after the pandemic, posting about her pregnancy marriage, and family dynamics. After posting thousands of videos over a couple of years, she had built up a
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respectable 3 million followers. However, Tik Tok wasn't paying the bills and her marriage wasn't doing too well.
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So, the wholesome family content was about to come to a screeching halt. She said, "I saw this video of a girl talking about how much she made from her podcast. And I think I mentally decided that she made at least $300,000 a year
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on her podcast alone, and I was like that's what I need to do next. I need a podcast." Her large following helped her land her first celebrity guest, Rick Glassman, who is a comedian and actor.
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And in the first podcast, fans got to see Bobby in a totally new light. She was seemingly a socially awkward valley girl giving off the vibe that she didn't even want to host her own podcast. The way your eyes are looking, it seems like
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you're not listening. I'm listening. Do you care? No, I do care. It's just really bad when you sing. I'm not a singer. I'm just trying to Yeah. get the story across to you. Thank you. I I hear it. I got it. In her second podcast, she
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hosted comedian Funny Marco, who had great comedic chemistry with Bobby. Funny Marco's comedy style often makes others feel uncomfortable and awkward.
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So, the two were essentially battling it out in an interesting back and forth. So, like, who are you? Like, where' you Who am I? Yeah. Is that a serious question?
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I have more followers than you on TikTok. Marco's humor combined with Bobby's dryness and innocent personality makes this so hilarious. Highly entertaining. The episode quickly earned nearly a million views and clips of it made the rounds on social media. The
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mini virality caught the attention of Drake who followed Bobby on Instagram. I DM' Drake and asked if he wanted to be on my podcast and he said yes. He sent me his touring schedule and I knew that I needed to make it happen fast. So, my
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friend and I flew to Memphis 2 days after the original DM was sent to record the episode. Her podcast with Drake earned 1 million views in the first 24 hours and introduced her to a massive mainstream audience. Drake rarely does
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interviews, so this one alongside some random girl while laying in his bed made people extremely curious. Am I your type?
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Um, I'd do it. Thank you. I'm just saying like, you know, I flew all the way here. You did? I really do appreciate on my daughter's first birthday. I wasn't going to bring that up. Mhm. You missed your daughter's
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first birthday for to be here. Dark regret that you'll never be able to undo. Yeah. Horrible parenting.
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Where's your son? Somewhere safe. And it's not his birthday. When's his birthday? What does it matter? It ain't today. Honey, don't call me honey. Clips of their awkward interactions flooded Tik Tok. And overnight, Bobby Alto became a household
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name on social media. After the Drake episode, securing high-profile guests became easy. She had on Lil Yachty Taiga, and even Mark Cuban. Her style of bored, sarcastic humor became her signature, and people seemed to love it.
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But just 3 weeks after the Drake interview was posted, which now had over 10 million views, it was mysteriously deleted from her page, and he unfollowed her on Instagram, sparking a ton of speculation. While fans were trying to
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figure out what happened, people were reminded that Bobby skipped her daughter's first birthday to interview Drake, which didn't seem to sit right with people, especially because Bobby used to be a mom focused Tik Tocker.
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When Drake calls you a horrible parent you know you effed up. Rumors also spread that Bobby slept with Drake and divorced her husband just to do the interview, which she vehemently denied.
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But it is true that she divorced her husband, but the reason her and Drake's relationship soured was never revealed.
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So many people came to the conclusion that she was nothing more than an industry plant. Basically meaning that she didn't organically earn her virality, but rather she was handpicked by people behind the scenes and artificially pushed into the spotlight
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using Drake's fame as the catalyst. The main piece of evidence for this theory was that she signed to the WME talent agency, one of the biggest talent agencies in the United States representing a ton of Hollywood figures including Drake. Well, you got a great
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agent and you got a great agency and you got great guests. Regardless if the rumors were true or not, it gave even more of a reason to dislike Bobby. And her comedic style got old very quickly.
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Listening to her uninterested voice is like nails on a chalkboard. And while most of her interviews, she is the one driving the conversation. There were frequent moments where celebrities got tired of her shtick mid conversation and turn the tables on her. Damn, I'm trying
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to get you to play. You lost in the sauce. You ain't shaking my hand. We f to get you to to 25 million. You know what I'm saying? Just a little sprinkle.
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Have a great day off that. Just a little seasoning. All right, you can you can leave now. This is my hotel. I paid for this [ __ ] You can leave now.
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All of her podcasts feel like small talk while waiting for something to actually happen. It's just simply boring.
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Ironically, her revealing that she was just playing a character actually became worse for her because the little mystique she did have was now completely gone. In an interview on the Women on Top podcast, she explained why she embodies a satirical alter ego on social
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media, saying, "Being myself doesn't get views. I had to go where the money was." And her playing the character of someone who is bored and uninterested is just not a sustainable style for long-term success. Awkward and cringe humor can
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work, but in short clips, not hour-long podcasts. In response to the backlash she tried to just be more herself, not trying to be so awkward and even remove the dead air moments from the pod. But all that did was reveal that she is just
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a subpar podcast host who is only doing it for the money. Although her 15 minutes of fame are over, she will likely remain a lingering socialite as long as she is signed to a talent agency that can get her celebrity guests. And
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on Tik Tok is where you will still see her fan base praise her for putting in the least amount of effort possible.
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This story feels all too similar to the Hawkua girl with the main difference being that Bobby didn't outright scam the few people that actually supported her. Walking around drunk in Nashville at 2 a.m. Haley Welsh and her friend
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Chelsea approached a couple of guys and asked them what they were filming. YouTubers Tim and D told them that they do on the street interviews where they typically ask about relationships, male and female gender roles, as well as
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provocative and sometimes runchy topics. Chelsea asked D to make it a spicy one implying that he should ask a question that might be a little edgy.
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Come on, you got to get a spicy one. You want a spicy one? Yeah. So, he did just that. Only Megan's friend Haley would jump in and give an answer that would drastically change her life. You know how to answer this. You got it. What's
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one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time? You got to give him that hawk to spit on that night. You get me?
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After having a silly interview, Chelsea and Haley confirmed that they wanted their video to be posted to social media. You like I was earlier. That's it. Yeah.
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Okay. Jim and DTV. All right. You said we better. You said we better post that.
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Yes. Okay. Post it through. All right. She said we better post it. So don't come back trying to tell me, "Hey, take it down. I'm I'mma sue you." This, that the third. Tim and D posted the video to
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their Instagram account, which had tens of thousands of followers. And the clip immediately went viral, securing 1 million views on the first day and over 5 million views on the second day. The post spread like wildfire, being shared
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across countless meme pages and pop culture news reporters. The comments read, "She's a national treasure. Keep this woman safe. I'm moving down south.
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I'm tired of these northeast women. If she don't hawk tua, I don't want to talk to her." On the surface, Haley appeared to be the stereotypical southern bell.
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Sweet and charming, complimented by a thick accent. So, her describing her runchy bedroom tactics was a stark contrast. Within days, merch was being sold to capitalize on the viral traffic.
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But it wasn't until her first interview that we would find out more about the girl behind Hawk Tua. What do you do now? Because now you have management now you have a team. What are your plans moving forward? Like, do you want to
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still be the Hucka girl or do you want to like I don't really want that to be like my image. Yeah. Like h to girl. I just I don't see that being like my thing. Yeah. I don't want to be known as
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that. You made a drunk joke and the next day you have whole management behind you. This world is crazy. Haley took the typical path of a viral star. She hired management and they immediately got her as much press as possible, jumping on
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various podcasts to talk about her rise to fame. She got paid to show up at events and hung out backstage with celebrities. She was being amplified to unimaginable levels with Rolling Stone calling her a charming Gen Z Doll Dolly
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Parton who's rightfully becoming America's sweetheart. Keep in mind that Dolly Parton is a generational talent who sold 100 million records in her career. Rolling Stone of all publications making that comparison just shows how they will say anything for
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clicks. And while many people thought that Haley would start an OAF to cash in, she decided she wanted to use her fame for good. Everybody in the comments is saying how I have 15 minutes of fame.
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And if that's the case, then I'm going to spend it doing something good. Today we're taking all of this down to the local animal shelter and donate. People were convinced they made the right person famous, but most viral stars
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struggled to earn a consistent income from their newfound fame. So, in order to secure a sustainable revenue source she launched the Talk to a podcast. And immediately the jokes came flooding in.
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Talk to like an emphasis on it like [Applause] Once the whole I'm just a normal girl whose life changed overnight story ran its course. She tried to keep viewers engaged by dropping hints that she had a secret lover that she called Pooky, but
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it just wasn't interesting enough to get people to watch. Can we go back to what you said you're dating somebody? Do people know this? Uh, well, I wouldn't say dating just yet. Is this pooky? It's pooky. Shut the heck up. That's my man.
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No, it is. That is my man officially. What if Matt Refe came in and asked you to date him? Would he be your ex-Man? Oh [ __ ] You're putting me on the spot here. I'm sorry. I love you, Matt, but
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I'm about to kick your ass to the curb. Her comment section was flooded with people sarcastically saying that the podcast was groundbreaking and changed their life. I'm convinced that the only reason why this podcast had decent viewership is because of the massive
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amount of jokes dedicated to making fun of watching the Talk to a Podcast. But perhaps people were being a bit harsh on Haley. Sure, she may have been milking her 15 minutes of fame, but can you blame her? If people wanted to watch
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hours of her podcast and get to know her, then so be it. It's not like she was harming anyone, right? Wrong.
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Because Haley would make a decision that would officially destroy her career. On December 4th, 2024, in collaboration with the web 3 platform, Over here limited, Haley launched her own memecoin called Hawk. The coin was marketed as a revolutionary cryptocurrency project.
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Within 15 minutes of its launch, it hit a $490 million market cap, but then it crashed. It was revealed that 97% of the total supply was initially controlled by just 10 people, leaving only 3% for public buyers. A total of 285 investors
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took part in the pre-sale, but once trading opened, 30% of them immediately dumped their entire holdings, while another 23% offloaded a portion. This sell-off tanked the token's value by over 90% while the sellers walked away with an estimated $3 million. After
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this, Haley posted a statement on Twitter insisting that the team never sold the tokens. Many accused her of rug pulling, which is basically a coordinated sell-off from a small group of investors to make profits while the public loses their entire investment. In
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short, this was not a revolutionary cryptocurrency project. This was a way to make a quick buck off of her uneducated fans. YouTuber Coffeezilla investigated and exposed the coin as a scam. Who makes the money on the fees?
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Someone just made over a million dollars on fees. Who made it? First of all, the fees were there with Meteora pools. And that goes to Yes. the creator, right?
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Which is who who is the project? Well the project is over here, Haley Welch right? And and how much does Haley Welch own? This is Haley Welch's project. says she owns all did she just make a million dollars on fees on who made the money?
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How much did Haley Welsh make of that million? 1.8 million. It's who it's a foundation income. I hate to interrupt you, Nick, but hello there. But anyh who, I'm going to go to bed and I'll see you guys tomorrow. Multiple lawsuits
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were filed against the entities behind Hawk, including Over here Limited and the Two of the Moon Foundation. These lawsuits alleged unlawful promotion and sale of unregistered securities. Welsh received an upfront payment of $125,000 to promote the coin to her
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community along with 50% of the net trading proceeds after the operating costs paid to the third parties. And she owned 10% of the entire hawk supply although she could not sell them for a year. Now, it is possible that Haley did
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not know what she was getting into. But ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law. Her 15 minutes of fame are most definitely over, but since her memecoin she has disappeared from social media.
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So, we'll have to see what she does next. In a world filled with amazing talent, interesting, and intelligent people who work hard for the attention of those that can make their dreams a reality, it seems like the wrong people
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are constantly achieving overnight success. And that's never going to change. So, eventually, there will be a part two of this video.
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