Netflix‘s new docuseries, Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, explores the exploitation and lack of protection embedded into child internet stardom, focusing on mega kid influencer Piper Rockelle and the Squad that took the internet by storm from 2017 to 2021. Led by her mother and manager, Tiffany Smith, and Hunter Hill, Smith’s boyfriend, who shot and edited the majority of the content, Piper and her “Squad” raked in billions of views and millions of dollars.
But not everyone enjoyed the riches, and as they rose to fame, some allegedly suffered psychological and sexual abuse by Smith, as detailed in a 2022 lawsuit filed by former members of the Squad.
Here’s the true story behind Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing.
Piper Rockelle joined YouTube in 2016 in hopes of becoming an actor
According to Time, Rockelle joined YouTube in 2016 and often posted videos of her life in Los Angeles as an aspiring actor. She’d regularly share videos of her playing around and hanging out with friends. As views of those videos increased, so did Piper’s audience, who quickly demanded more content, Netflix’s Tudum reported.
To keep up with the demand, Smith decided to invite Sophie Fergi and her mother to move in with her and her daughter in their Los Angeles home. She later added more youth to the mix. Most were aspiring actors, and Smith told them and their families that the move would help them get exposure and advance their careers.
“You’ve got to remember, a lot of these kids joined The Squad during COVID,” Tudum reported docuseries co-director Jenna Rosher said. “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.”
Smith often pushed the Squad’s boundaries for viral content
At first, the videos were seemingly innocent, but as time progressed, Smith pushed the Squad to lengths they weren’t comfortable with. Some former Squad members admitted in the docuseries that Smith would often push boundaries to make viral content.
In a clip included in the series, Smith is heard daring a young participant to lick a smoothie off the pavement at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Former Squad member Sawyer Sharbino also remembered being told to be mean to one of the other stars on her birthday to breed drama.
“Tiffany absolutely wanted to do more questionable content to get more views and likes,” he said.
One video saw Rockelle pretend to break her leg, have a stroke, and be taken away by a fake ambulance, Time reported. Another incident included an actor who was hired to pretend to be a policeman and arrest one of the teens, leaving them in tears.
“People weren’t informed that it was a prank, parents weren’t informed that it was a prank,” Fergi said in the series.
Parent Johna Ramirez said it was “traumatizing” watching her 13-year-old son, Jentzen, cry hysterically on set as the fake police officer scared the children.
“There are so many videos that made all of us feel uncomfortable,” Fergi said, adding that her time in Piper’s Squad was “some of the hardest years of my life and I’m only 12.”
According to Tudum, several other minors who worked with Smith said they were uncomfortable with the way she spoke to them about sexual subjects. Some even accused the momager of touching them inappropriately. The Squad members’ parents noticed Smith’s behavior, but when they spoke up about their concerns, they said Smith was quick to retaliate. According to them, Smith would isolate them from the group and demand that the other members stop interacting with them.
The Squad was allegedly not adequately paid for their work
In addition to sustaining an allegedly toxic work environment that often abused its child workers, many former Squad members have claimed they weren’t adequately compensated for their work. Co-director Kief Davidson said what happened to them is a symptom of a more significant problem in the kidfluencer industry.
“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,” Davidson told Tudum. “We wanted to tell the story because it exposes the real human cost behind the glossy facade of Internet fame.”
Eleven former members of the Squad filed a lawsuit against Smith and Hill
In January 2022, 11 former members of the Squad filed a lawsuit against Smith and Hill, accusing them of being “frequently subjected to an emotionally, physically and sometimes sexually abusive environment perpetrated by Ms. Smith on and off set during filming sessions for Rockelle’s YouTube channel,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
The lawsuit claimed that, even though Rockelle earned up to $625,000 a month, other Squad members would work without meals or breaks, and on-set schooling was not provided. A 2022 investigation into the Squad by the Los Angeles Times also uncovered other disturbing incidents, like Smith allegedly offering to show an 11-year-old girl how to perform oral sex and the momager mailing Rockelle’s underwear to men.
Piper Rockelle and Tiffany Smith have denied the claims
Neither Rockelle nor her mom and Hill participated in the docuseries, but they’ve disputed the Squad’s claims over the years, Time reported. In February, Rockelle, now 17, shared a TikTok video alluding to her desire to tell her side of the story when she turns 18 in August.
Ahead of the docuseries’ trailer release in March, People magazine reported that Smith said she and her daughter are moving on from the Squad following the $1.85 million settlement in October without any liability admission or validity or lack thereof to any of the Squad’s claims or defenses.
“Obviously we didn’t do anything that was alleged, but sadly, money is a big motivator for certain personalities in this world,” the momager told the outlet in a statement. “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.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Piper Rockelle’s boyfriend’s name?
As of April 2024, Piper Rockelle appears to be dating a social media influencer by the name of Capri Jones, as Hollywood Life reported. They frequently do social media posts with each other, and Jones has 1 million Instagram followers.
Who is Piper Rockelle engaged to?
Piper Rockelle is not engaged. However, she published YouTube content about being engaged to ex-boyfriend and former Piper’s Squad member, Lev Cameron. This content is assumed to be clickbait and she and Cameron were never actually engaged. As seen in the Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, things like these were a common promotion tactic by Smith and Hill.
What is Piper Rockelle’s net worth?
As estimated by Celebrity Net Worth, Piper Rockelle’s net worth is set to be around $4 million.
