Did the ‘hawk tuah girl’ get fired?

The ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl has become a viral sensation and is enduring the enormous spotlight brought into focus during such an event.

Internet detectives were able to find the names of the ‘Hawk Tuah girl’ and her friend, who appeared alongside her in the video. However, her true identity remains unconfirmed. That has not stopped thousands of online content creators from circulating rumors about the woman, some of which carry reputational risks. Distractify reported that the girl dishing some sex advice is named Hailey. However, after the video went viral, her Instagram account, which had been tagged by Tim&Dee, was deactivated. Her last name remains unknown, though some content creators are spreading rumors that contain surnames. If you come across this content, you should exercise skepticism, and the case below demonstrates exactly why.

READ MORE: What does “hawk tuah” mean and why is everyone talking about it?

The case alleging that ‘hawk tuah girl’ was fired

In one case, a local satire and parody outlet, the Tippah County Tribune, “reported” that resident Hailey Wellington, a preschool teacher, had been fired after parents saw the video.

Those who ran with the story

Then, this fake story gained traction when a TikTok user, daily news.rot131, made a video about the post, alleging that she might have been fired. The TikTok creator was careful to ensure that they did not say that the rumor had been confirmed, but there is no context provided in the video that the outlet’s report is parody. The video, posted nine or so hours ago, already has 77,000 likes, and the view count is growing. This sort of social media reporting is very concerning because the woman at the center of this media hurricane is an ordinary person with little platform to defend herself.

The consequences

Broker and comedian Cassandra Hartford was one of the victims who believed the parody account’s story, posting that “The Hawk Tuah girl was a preschool teacher, who is now forced to resign.”

However, the post is illustrative of the dangers social media poses when consuming news because often you are left with a responsibility to fact-check the source, an action that very few take after being fed this kind of sensationalized content. A Community Note under the post informs those who saw the original tweet that the source is the Tippah County Tribune and that the story is false. The question is, how many people saw Hartford’s post before the Community Note was added?