Rep for Hailey Welch Reveals She Rejected Movie Roles & ‘American Idol’

What a world. You’d legitimately have to be living under a rock to not have heard of Hailey Welch by now, also known as “Hawk Tuah Girl.” She’s already signed with a management company named The Penthouse and is getting offers left and right for various future endeavors.

Thanks to a lengthy interview released on Saturday, we have a little more insight into what’s on the horizon for Welch. Her manager, Jonnie Forster, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter for an old-fashioned, transcribed conversation in print. It offers a lot of information to parse through, emphasizing just how desperate people are to get a piece of the Hawk Tuah phenomenon.

American Idol even called up Welch’s team after seeing her perform on stage with Zach Bryan, asking if she’d be part of the competition. Forster responded to American Idol’s email in a manner that underscores the quirks of this viral sensation: “In the email was, ‘We saw her sing at the Zach Bryan show, and she had such an amazing voice. We’d love to see how we can get her on the show.’ I emailed back, ‘She can’t sing at all. Did you even watch the performance? Because she couldn’t carry a tune in a bag.'”

The Hollywood Reporter interview stated that Welch made about $20,000 for an appearance at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. This comes after reports that she’ll make $30,000 in appearance fees in New York City. Forster explained that Welch might be interested in appearing in American Idol’s promotional material, but Welch recognized her lane, not wanting to take away opportunities from performers in creative or artistic fields.

This philosophy also applied to the myriad movie role offers that came Welch’s way. They were mostly horror films from small or indie companies. A producer was even willing to change the end of their movie just to include Welch. However, Forster had to explain that “she’s not an actress.”

Forster decided to represent Welch because after meeting her, she felt there was a genuine, small-town good human being worth investing in beyond what could’ve been just 15 minutes of fame. In fact, Welch’s company name is 16 Minutes LLC, suggesting that she isn’t letting all the newfound fame get to her head.

As for what Welch plans on doing going forward, some podcast ideas are in the works. The key revelation from Forster was her confirmation that a couple of reality TV show concepts are in play to showcase Welch’s unique, winsome personality: “There’s the docu format that would be, ‘Here’s someone from a small town who’s now recognizable and thrown in the deep end. What’s the day in the life?’ That’s the obvious one, and we’re vetting that out. The other thing that’s really of interest to her is traveling because she had never been on a plane before this. I go, ‘Can you imagine if you go to Japan or France or these exotic places, and it’s like a fish out of water with you and your friends?'”

Welch has revealed in multiple interviews that she works in a factory. Forster got to meet her grandmother and indicated that Welch still lives with her grannie in Belfast, Tennessee, a little over an hour south of Nashville.

Welch seems to be handling all of this as well as she possibly could. It can’t be easy to have so much exposure overnight for an offhand comment, especially when all these opportunities are rolling in. It must be overwhelming, but it sounds like she’s in good hands with her management team.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, American Idol