In January 2022, several teen content creators sued Tiffany Smith, the momager of social media star Piper Rockelle, for $22 million. The lawsuit accused her of serious wrongdoing and exposed troubling issues within the world of teen influencers.
Netflix’s Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing uncovers the hidden dangers behind child content creation.
The three-part documentary, which premiered on April 9, highlights the rise of social media star Piper Rockelle, her content group known as “The Squad,” and the troubling abuse allegations against her mom and manager, Tiffany Smith.
Piper Rockelle began her online career at just 8 years old on Musical.ly. As she gained popularity, her mother built a content empire across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, later recruiting other young influencers to join The Squad.
Image Credit: Netflix
The Squad quickly gained millions of views with their collaborative short-form videos. However, behind the scenes, serious allegations of abuse were brewing. In January 2022, 11 former Squad members filed a lawsuit against Tiffany Smith, accusing her of emotional, verbal, physical, and even sexual abuse.
Two years later, Smith agreed to settle the lawsuit by paying $1.85 million. The settlement was reached without either side admitting any wrongdoing.
Here’s a full breakdown of the allegations at the heart of Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing.
Who is Piper Rockelle?
Netflix’s Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing uncovers the hidden dangers behind child content creation.
Piper Rockelle was born on August 21, 2007, and raised by her single mother, Tiffany Smith, in
She was educated at home and spent most of her childhood taking part in beauty pageants and dance contests.
At just 8 years old, Rockelle started creating content online, posting lip-sync videos on Musical.ly, the app that would later become TikTok.
After gaining a strong following online by 2017, she and her mother made the decision to move to Los Angeles and focus fully on her career.
After relocating, Rockelle explored acting, landing roles in web series from the production company Brat, including Mani and Chicken Girls. She continued building her online brand with the help of her mother and her mom’s then-boyfriend, Hunter Hill, who edited many of her videos.
At the height of her early career, Piper Rockelle was reportedly earning over $600,000 a month, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Who is Tiffany Smith?
Tiffany Smith, originally from Canton, Georgia, became a single mom at 26 after Piper Rockelle’s father left during her pregnancy. Seeing Piper’s outgoing nature, Smith entered her into pageants at just 3 years old. She later created Piper’s social media accounts, and her videos quickly went viral.
In The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, Smith’s sister, Patience Rock Smith, revealed that Smith pushed Piper to be “the best” from a very young age. Piper, eager to make her mom proud, followed along.
Patience also shared that Piper wasn’t in school properly. Around age 8, family members urged Smith to enroll her in education, but Smith focused more on growing Piper’s social status.
After moving to Los Angeles, Smith began dating Hunter Hill, a much younger man who became Piper’s video editor and creative director. Online, Hill pretended to be Piper’s older brother.
What was The Squad?
After moving to Los Angeles, Tiffany Smith started recruiting other young influencers to join Piper Rockelle’s “Squad” and appear in her videos. Key members over time included Sophie Fergi, Gavin Magnus, Sawyer Sharbino, Hayden Haas, Corinne Joy, Jentzen Ramirez, Claire RockSmith, and Symonne Harrison.
Their videos featured viral dances, extreme pranks, and popular online challenges.
From 2017 to 2020, the Squad reportedly filmed several videos a day, often directed by Smith and Hunter Hill. Some videos allegedly staged romantic situations between the young creators, according to NBC News.
Over time, several parents chose to remove their children from the group and cut ties with Smith.
In January 2022, a lawsuit claimed Smith tried to sabotage the children’s individual YouTube channels by using bots and false reports to lower their views and profits. Smith denied the allegations in her legal response.
Image Credit: US Weekly
What allegations did The Squad make against Tiffany Smith?
In January 2022, 11 former Squad members and their parents filed a lawsuit against Tiffany Smith, accusing her of harassment, molestation, and abuse. Hunter Hill, Rockelle’s video editor, was also named as a defendant.
The lawsuit detailed claims of verbal harassment, inappropriate touching — including allegations that Smith poked the plaintiffs with her finger — and other disturbing behavior. It also accused Smith of sending Piper’s soiled training bras and underwear to an unknown person and making inappropriate remarks to teenage boys about their bodies.
Smith denied all allegations in a December 2022 interview with the Los Angeles Times, calling the lawsuit “lies driven by financial jealousy.”
The plaintiffs also claimed they were not paid for appearing in Rockelle’s content, although it’s unclear if payments were promised.
Ashley, Smith’s sister-in-law, told NBC News she hoped the lawsuit would help keep kids safer from online abuse.
Each plaintiff sought around $2 million, totaling over $22 million. In October 2024, Smith settled for $1.85 million, with no admission of wrongdoing.
What Really Happened Between Piper Rockelle and Tiffany Smith?
After the allegations against her mother, Tiffany Smith, surfaced, YouTube demonetized Piper Rockelle’s channel and removed her from the YouTube Partner Program, according to Business Insider. This decision reportedly caused Piper’s business to lose between $300,000 and $500,000 per month, based on court documents reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.
Now 17 years old, Piper Rockelle still lives in Los Angeles and remains active on social media. She chose not to participate in the Netflix docuseries and has publicly criticized the lawsuit. Speaking to PEOPLE before the series aired, Piper said the experience has been “extremely painful,” blaming both the people making false claims and the media coverage.
In July 2022, Tiffany Smith filed a $30 million countersuit claiming the teenagers’ mothers tried to extort her. However, she dropped the case by October 2022, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Smith also declined to appear in the docuseries and continues to deny all allegations. In a statement to PEOPLE, she explained her decision to settle the lawsuit, saying:
“Obviously we didn’t do anything that was alleged, but sadly, money is a big motivator for certain personalities. We chose to move on because prolonged litigation would only cause more harm and pain, especially for the kids.”