Viewers of the new Netflix docuseries, Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, have been gripped by its exposure of the exploitative side of child stardom on the internet – as told through the eyes of some of Piper Rockelle's former co-stars and ex members of Piper's 'Squad'.
Piper first shot to fame as a child, thanks to her mother Tiffany Smith's encouragement to go after an influencing career, and along the way Tiffany ended up masterminding and managing the careers of many other young people too.
Sadly, this ended up in a legal case in which multiple former Squad members claimed to have been emotionally, financially and sexually abused by Tiffany, via their work with her and Piper.
Here's more on who Piper Rockelle is, where she is today and what she's said about Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing.
Who is Piper Rockelle?
Piper Rockelle is a 17-year-old American influencer who gained fame as a child with videos appealing to the tween market. It all came about after her mother, Tiffany Smith, helped her to set up online accounts and post videos showcasing her singing, dancing and acting skills.
Thanks to her engaging content, Piper went on to amass over 12 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, where she made a name for herself posting prank videos, challenges, and music videos. On TikTok, she has over 13 million fans with her choreographed dances and skits. Her pug, Frank Pugan, also has a social media following of his own.
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It's reported that at her peak, Piper earned up to $625,000 a month from YouTube.
She would regularly collaborate with other influencers too as her popularity boomed, at the encouragement of her mother. Said group of child performers collectively became known as the 'Piper Squad' or 'the Squad' – and some former squad members are the subject of a new Netflix documentary, Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing.
Before her rise to online stardom, Piper also participated in beauty pageants, worked as a child model and posted on the app Musical.ly (now TikTok).
Offline, Piper's personal life seems to have been somewhat turbulent, in no small part thanks to a lawsuit levelled by eleven former members of the Sqaud, who accused Tiffany (who managed and masterminded the Squad with Hunter Hill) of emotional, financial and sexual abuse in a case which was settled for $1.85 million without admission of wrongdoing.
Those in the lawsuit allege they did not receive proper compensation for their work, that Tiffany operated a toxic work environment and that she spoke to and touched them inappropriately. They accused cameraman and editor, Hunter, of being similarly exploitative and inappropriate, too.
Tiffany and Hunter have both denied any wrongdoing.
One ex-Squad member and a plaintiff of the lawsuit, Sophie Fergi, said it was never about the money but rather "to make sure [Tiffany] couldn’t do what she did to me to another kid".
The backlash around Piper Rockelle and Tiffany Smith explained
Back in 2022, drama rocked the creator world when eleven former Squad members launched a $22 million lawsuit against Tiffany Smith and Hunter Hill– a man who often appeared as a big brother-type figure to Piper on-screen, filmed and edited videos for the Squad, and who has also been romantically linked to Tiffany.
The lawsuit accused the pair of workplace violations like retaliation, unjust enrichment, and even sexual harassment. It pulled back the curtain on the wild west of social media stardom, where kids grind out videos and branded deals for hours, amassing fame and fortune in the millions – but sacrifice their childhoods in the process and often don't get appropriately compensated.
Despite child labour laws technically applying to young influencers in America, the fact that most of the content is created within a family home means that said rules are all too often ignored. Bad Influence: the Dark Side of Kidfluencing exposes child influencers as inhabiting a world of glitz, grit, and glaring gaps in protection. It also insinuates Tiffany would encourage the minors, Piper included, to wear more revealing outfits to boost engagement and to kiss one another or fake romantic relationships for views.
For their part, Smith and Hill publicly shut down the allegations in the suit and it was eventually settled for $1.85 million.
As reported via People, Tiffany said of the lawsuit, "Obviously we didn’t do anything that was alleged, but sadly, money is a big motivator for certain personalities in this world. We made the decision to put this behind us because honestly, prolonged litigation would be even more harmful and painful to everyone involved – which includes kids.
"Piper is a minor, and has already been through a great deal of unnecessary and harmful scrutiny. So we prioritised mental health, and made the decision to put this behind us and focus on the next phase of her career."
Where is Piper Rockelle now?
It seems Piper is continuing to live her life online as an influencer, regularly posting prank and challenge videos, along with fashion content. It seems she is still managed by her mother, Tiffany, and works with Hunter. However, it's believed her YouTube channel has been demonetised since the lawsuit and she now posts content (including bikini photos) on a site called BrandArmy, which only allows subscribers over the age of 18. Piper is still 17 years old herself.
In a rare statement commenting on the lawsuit, Piper said she found the accusations to be "extremely painful" and "hard to understand".
"It's been incredibly hard because the media and social media have been relentless and so hurtful, without understanding or even trying to understand the truth," she said, as per People. "It's become impossible to even look at my phone or do normal, day-to-day things. It's been so incredibly painful. Thank goodness for my family. And thank goodness this is finally behind us."
In 2022, Piper also told the LA Times [when discussing the Squad-filed lawsuit], "I don't even know who I am anymore because of this. I'm just trying to keep up a good look for social media and keep the kids happy. I feel like everything that I have right now is really getting stolen from me, and there's no way that I can get it back."
What has Piper Rockelle said about Netflix's Bad Influence?
So far, it seems Piper hasn't addressed any of the backlash directly on socials and is continuing to post on her socials as normal. On the day the Netflix documentary dropped, she uploaded a video of herself and her boyfriend, Capri, filming a game where one person is blindfolded and spinning around holding a camera, while the other person tries to hide. Many of the Instagram comments made reference to the documentary.
It's reported that she has given a statement via email to USA Today denying the allegations levelled at her mother in the series: "Honestly, I just want to move on from all of this because it’s really painful to deal with every day. And not surprisingly, my mental health has suffered more than anyone knows. [The allegations are] mean, untrue, and honestly all about money. My mom did not do any of those things that they said. And I’ll stand by my mom to the end."
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
