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It’s one walking meme meeting another. After the ‘Hawk Tuah Girl’ achieved viral fame on social media, she ran into 7’1″ of meme-tastic greatness, Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq was glad to give that update himself on his alternate DJ Diesel Instagram page with 1.2 million followers. It’s unclear what he’s doing in Nashville shortly after wrapping his stage at Beyond Wonderland at The Gorge in Washington last week. The Hawk Tuah Girl, whose real name is Haley Welsh, is enjoying her newfound fame while on a night out.

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Shaq just had to let everyone know, “Guess who i found in Nashville….” while sharing a picture with the very lady who took social media by storm. No funny sequel to the viral video but Shaq was being his goofy self with hilarious expressions next to Welsh and her friends. Fans love this crossover. In fact, nobody knew they wanted this so badly until it happened out of sheer coincidence. Besides crossing their fingers for a funny collab that would break the Internet, the reactions were worthy of making Welsh viral all over again.

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Haley Welsh turned herself into a brand when an on-the-street interviewer asked an explicit question. She responded with her version of an exaggerated spitting noise, ‘hawk tuah’. The clip went viral and Welsh cashed in. She collaborated with the apparel brand, Flathead Threads, to sell Hawk Tuah merchandise.

While the original video wouldn’t make her money, her now signature catchphrase has sold 2,000 hats and brought in about $100,000 in revenue. She’s reportedly made $65,000 from the merch already.

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That already speaks of her newfound fame. Not only did she get noticed by Shaq, but even O’Neal’s celebrity friends took note. Steve Aoki, DJ Diesel’s favorite DJ friend, skipped the giant in the picture and was focused on the real star. “She’s already a legend ! That’s dope.” And Afrojack could only muster an “haaaa.Shaq’s DJ son, Myles probably realized his dad’s awesome ratings just went up because he commented, “Oh my god.” Shaquille O’Neal’s followers had a lot to pour out about two Internet stalwarts meeting.

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Shaquille O’Neal needs to follow up as per his followers

It’s a mystery what brought O’Neal to Nashville, but fans are glad he arrived or this coincidence wouldn’t happen. So thank you to Tennessee for serving as the historic venue for this and many more to come. “Lmao it’s always Tennessee. EVERYTIME,” one fan wrote. There’s also the possibility that Shaq planned to meet her. He could’ve not left any stone unturned or, to be punny, “Probably searching like a hawk for her.”

Drawing from another viral subject that has the Internet exasperated, one wisely commented, “We got Shaq & Hawk Tuah before GTA 6.” There were some goldmine ideas thrown out like, “Please mix her sample into a song @djdiesel.” Since a DJ Diesel event made this happen, why not?

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Summarizing how life-changing the meeting of these two Internet titans is, DJ Carisen wrote, “whoever said said infinity war was the most ambitious crossover clearly never saw this image.” Now all Shaq needs to do is turn this fateful encounter into epic content. Fans already have a name for it too. “SHAQ TUAHHHH.”

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.

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Caroline John

3,289 Articles

Caroline John is a senior NBA writer at EssentiallySports, specializing in league comparables. She holds a master’s degree in Journalism and Communication and brings eight years of experience to the sports desk. Caroline made a mark in NBA media by covering the life of Know more

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Pragya Vashisth

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