Meet Piper Rockelle, the kidfluencer at the heart of a new Netflix series: the 17-year-old started with pageants before moving to YouTube – but her mum Tiffany Smith has been accused of abuse
Netflix just dropped its shocking new documentary, Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, about teen influencer Piper Rockelle and her viral friends known as The Squad – but not everyone is happy about the chilling exposé.
The Squad were teen content creators who were featured on her YouTube channel. They claimed that they were 'frequently subjected to an emotionally, physically and sometimes sexually abusive environment' perpetrated by Rockelle's mother, Tiffany Smith, during filming and that they spent time and energy on the videos 'without compensation', per People. They sued Smith, and the claimants received US$1.85 million as settlement in 2024.
Rockelle told USA Today, 'Honestly, I just want to move on from all of this because it's really painful to deal with every day,' adding that her 'mental health has suffered more than anyone knows'.
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Referring to the accusations against her mother, she asserted, '[The rumours 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.' Rockelle is estranged from her father, and a YouTube video in 2022 appears to show them reuniting – but his face and identity has been obscured.
The
Netflix docuseries reveals that their complaints remain unchanged. Speaking to People, Smith griped that it is 'unfair to Piper, who didn't do anything wrong and now struggles with her mental health because of all the unfair scrutiny and negative attention'.
Before the release of Bad Influence, Rockelle received backlash for hanging out with the adult content creator crew Bop House. So what else do we know about Piper Rockelle?
She got her start with pageants
Piper Rockelle got her start in child pageants and reality shows, such as Toddlers & Tiaras, which also helped launch the likes of Honey Boo Boo. Photo: @piperrockelle/Instagram
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