At the height of YouTuber Piper Rockelle’s success, her online presence was inescapable among those in her tween target audience. Piper’s on-camera friends served as a rotating supporting cast; known as The Squad, many had their own YouTube channels and growing fanbases. Behind the scenes, however, various members of The Squad discovered that their online popularity came at a price. Tiffany Smith, Piper’s mother and the mastermind of her rising stardom, managed her young talent roster in a manner that often put her at odds with their parents, and in some cases, led to their ostracization from the group. For some of the tweens, that was the extent of the damage — but others allege that the trauma they experienced still affects them to this day. 

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, a three-part docuseries chronicling the reality behind Piper’s success, reveals what it was like for a handful of members of The Squad who ended up leaving or ousted — as well as the troubling allegations that emerged once the children came clean to their parents about exactly what they had endured while working with Tiffany. “War was waged on you if you left The Squad,” co-director Kief Davidson (joined by fellow director Jenna Rosher) said on the You Can’t Make This Up podcast. “These kids started to become fearful. They started to get hate texts. It was very, very difficult for the kids.” In 2022, 11 former Squad members filed a $22 million lawsuit against Smith — as well as Hunter Hill, 28, a fellow creator who used to appear as Piper’s older-brother figure and dated Tiffany — containing a litany of workplace violations ranging from unjust enrichment and retaliation to sexual harassment. (Smith and Hill have publicly denied the allegations laid out in the suit.)

Why did former members of The Squad file a lawsuit against Tiffany Smith?

In order to keep up the level of constant content creation required to grow Piper’s social media following, Tiffany came up with a solution. She invited Sophie Fergi and her mother to join them in a new Los Angeles house where she lived with Piper. As time went on, more kids were invited to spend time there and film content onsite. “You’ve got to remember, a lot of these kids joined The Squad during COVID,” said Rosher. “And a lot of these kids were actors. They weren’t in a regular school situation, they were mostly homeschooled. The Squad provided this amazing community and an opportunity to meet friends and make videos together.”

With all the talent gathered in the same place, it became much easier to produce more content than ever before. But with increased exposure to Tiffany, both The Squad and their parents alleged that they noticed a pattern of disturbing behavior developing over time. For one, they felt that there was an unreasonable expectation to film videos at all hours. “If they're 10 years old, they shouldn't be working 12 hours a day,” Rosher said. “Most child actors can only work about five hours a day. And they're getting the educational support that they need. Many critics have said that because these videos are being made in the backyards of homes, this is hard to regulate — nobody’s going to be there to enforce the hours, education, and financial aspect.”

Then, whether on or off-camera, a number of the minors working with Tiffany say that they experienced discomfort when she spoke to them about sexual subject matter — and, at times, touched them inappropriately. When parents spoke up about their issues with Tiffany, they say she responded by swiftly retaliating against those who complained, ousting them from The Squad completely and directing other members to stop interacting with them.

In addition to the alleged toxic work environment The Squad had to deal with, many claim that they weren’t properly compensated for their work. The 2022 lawsuit also alleged multiple instances of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that took place during their time being featured on Piper’s YouTube channel. “I think [this] story is a real microcosm of a much bigger issue, which is the exploitation of child influencers in a very unregulated world of social media,” says Davidson. “We wanted to tell the story because it exposes the real human cost behind the glossy facade of Internet fame.”

What’s the status of the lawsuit against Tiffany Smith?

Nearly three years after the suit was filed, both parties reached a $1.85 million settlement. “This lawsuit was never about money — it was to make sure she couldn’t do what she did to me to another kid,” Sophie, one of the young plaintiffs, said in the documentary.

“I think that, so far, Tiffany has gotten off the hook,” Davidson said. “She’s a very smart businesswoman in a lot of ways and knows how to work the system. I just hope at the end of the day that this documentary becomes a real conversation piece for families and their kids to at least know what to look out for. And there are ways to do this safely. [If kids and parents continue to do this,] we have to find a way to put safeguards in place.”

Where is Piper Rockelle now?

Now 17 years old, Piper is still producing a steady stream of social media content for public consumption. After the allegations against her mother surfaced, YouTube demonetized her channel, which directly impacted her stream of revenue. It appears that her output — whether on traditional social media channels or subscription service Brand Army — is still managed and directed by Tiffany and Hunter. “You can certainly see with Piper that as she's gotten older — she's 17 now — the photos have become very risque,” Davidson said. “Since the demonetization happened, there's been paid subscription-type services for Piper to post pictures for people that want to see personalized photos, which you have to actually be 18 or over for. It opens up the doors obviously to all sorts of people who you don't want looking at a teen that way.”

Today, many of Piper’s current YouTube videos (still filmed by Hunter) feature her alone or with her current boyfriend. Piper was also most recently in the news after collaborating with members of the Bop House, a residence where a number of adult content influencers live together and create content. This content received significant pushback from viewers wondering why a teenager was making content with adult creators, but Piper largely dismissed the feedback in her subsequent videos. “I think it's really important to know that Piper is a victim here,” Davidson says. “Universally, every single one of the families that we spoke with looks at [it that way].”