New Netflix docuseries explores 'Dark Side of Kidfluencing'

NBC News

11-04-2025

On the surface, Piper Rockelle's massively popular YouTube channel was glossy, fun and kid friendly. Starting when Piper was 11, her account featured videos of her and her posse of tween sidekicks pulling pranks, performing skits and doing goofy viral challenges for millions of followers.
However, for all their upbeat smiles on camera, Piper and her friends were experiencing a much darker reality behind the scenes, including alleged 'verbal, physical and, at times, sexual abuse' at the hands of Piper's mother and producer, Tiffany Smith, a lawsuit filed in January 2022 by 11 former 'Squad' members says.
A new three-part Netflix docuseries, 'Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing,' shares the stories of several former child influencers who were members of 'Piper's Squad.'
The documentary also sheds light on the world of 'kidfluencing,' a legally murky and largely unregulated sector of the entertainment industry.
Read on to learn more about teen influencer Piper Rockelle, why her mom was sued for $22 million, and where they both are now.
Who is Piper Rockelle?
Piper Rockelle, 17, is an influencer with more than 30 million followers across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
She rose to viral fame at age 8 when she began posting videos on YouTube with help from her mom and 'momager,' Tiffany Smith.
When Piper was 11, Smith began recruiting other kids to appear in her daughter's videos, and the group of tweens and teens became known as 'Piper's Squad.'
Over the next few years, the Squad churned out hundreds of videos of themselves pulling pranks on each other, dancing to lip sync videos, completing viral challenges, and confessing to their crushes.
The channel was incredibly lucrative for Smith and her daughter. At one point, Piper was earning more than half a million dollars per month for her video content, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Other members of the Squad routinely earned five figures per month via their own YouTube channels thanks to their association with Piper, according to a 2022 court document.
While Piper's channel was presented as a harmless collection of videos about a group of tweens' silly pranks and adventures, it reportedly had a darker side.
As the years went on, former Squad members began speaking out about physical, sexual and emotional abuse they had allegedly suffered at the hands of Smith. Accusations of exploitation and labor violations also arose.
A group of former Squad members sued Smith and her business partner, Hunter Hill, in January 2022. Piper was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Why was Piper Rockelle's mom sued?
In 2022, 11 former members of Piper's 'Squad' sued Rockelle's mother, Tiffany Smith, seeking damages of at least $2 million each, or $22 million total.
Hill was also named as a defendant, along with Piper Rockelle Inc., the holding company for the family's content creation business.
Hill, 28, portrayed a big brother-like figure to Piper on screen, but off camera he reportedly had a romantic relationship with Piper's mom and was 'the primary director, editor and cinematographer' of Piper's YouTube videos, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint sought damages for sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among several other alleged violations.
The plaintiffs, all of whom were minors when the lawsuit was filed, accused Smith of 'grossly inappropriate, offensive and abusive treatment.' They claimed Smith made vulgar comments about their bodies, and at times touched them inappropriately.
According to the complaint, Smith encouraged minors in the Squad to behave sexually with each other and to act proactively in videos and photos, such as urging them to make 'sexy kissing faces' or to 'wear something sluttier' because 'sex sells.'
According to the complaint, Smith and Hill would 'sabotage' children who left the Squad, targeting their individual YouTube channels.
Smith and Hill allegedly engaged in a variety of tactics to 'tank' former Squad members' online platforms, such as flooding them with bot subscribers, which can negatively affect how videos are promoted on YouTube, and falsely flagging their channels as 'inappropriate' to get their content restricted.
These alleged tactics led to a 'significant loss' in subscribers and viewerships for the plaintiffs, which translated to a loss of income, according to the lawsuit.
Smith denied the allegations against her. In July 2023, she countersued for $30 million, accusing the plaintiffs' mothers of attempting to extort her by making false allegations of sexual abuse, according to NBC News. She later voluntarily abandoned the lawsuit.
In a December 2022 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Smith questioned the motives of the plaintiffs bringing the lawsuit against her.
'This whole case is based on lies that are driven by financial jealousy,' she said. 'Financial jealousy of a 15-year-old girl.'
Smith has also denied allegations that she violated California labor laws in the filming of the Squad videos. Several parents of former Squad members have said their children filmed up to 12 hours per day and did not receive proper education on set, according to the Times.
TODAY.com has reached out to Hill for comment and has not heard back at the time of publication.
'Imagine if these kids had been on a movie set for Lionsgate,' Matthew Sarelson, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the Times in 2022. 'People would go to jail if this had happened at a studio.'
Smith has denied that she was running a professional production studio and said it was parents' responsibility to manage their kids' schooling.
The Squad members' lawsuit was settled in October 2024 for $1.85 million, according to NBC News.
'This was never about the money — it was about holding an individual accountable, telling the truth, and taking a step toward healing,' Angela Sharbino, the parent of one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement, according to NBC News. 'All of these kids have now moved on from the 'Squad' and are closing this chapter of their lives.'
Where are Piper Rockelle and Tiffany Smith now?
Piper continues to share content on social media.
After the 2022 lawsuit was filed, YouTube demonetized Piper's channel, meaning she could no longer earn revenue from her videos. She still posts occasional YouTube videos, such as a 10-minute vlog entitled 'Week in my Life as a Full Time Influencer' in November 2024.
'Obviously I film vlogs like this, but I don't really get a lot out of it besides the satisfaction of knowing you guys enjoy watching them, and I get a lot of fun memories that I can go back and watch, which I think is cool,' she says in the video.
The teen adds that she now does other types of work to 'you know, keep the house over my head,' such as brand deals and paid TikTok videos.
Smith and Hill still appear to oversee the creation of Piper's videos. In her 2024 'Week in the Life' video, a narrator who appears to be Hill says Smith 'completely rearranged and decorated' a room in their house so Piper could film TikTok videos at all hours.
One scene from the 2024 vlog shows Piper decorating a Christmas tree at 11:30 p.m. as part of a paid brand deal.
The narrator, who appears to be Hill, says in the video that after they are done filming the Christmas tree scene, they still have to shoot something for her vlog that is going out 'in a couple hours.'
'I have to finish editing it and we don't have a thumbnail for it,' he says. 'So there are so many stresses, you guys have no idea what this is like.'
'But it's not that bad,' Piper chimes in.
Piper has more than 14 million fans on TikTok, where she posts frequent videos featuring her hanging out with her boyfriend, lip syncing to viral songs, and sometimes posing in bikinis and other revealing outfits.
She also has an account on BrandArmy, a platform that allows creators as young as 13 to share paid photos and videos of themselves, with parental oversight. The site is only open to subscribers over the age of 18.
In her 2024 vlog, Piper says she is 'grateful' for the opportunity to create content, but also shares a candid look at her life and responsibilities.
'I have no room to complain about my life because things could be a lot worse. But what I do have to say is, it is hard work on my end. I've never had, like, a normal job, but whatever I'm doing right now, it feels like a job. It takes a lot out of me. I go to bed at night and I'm like, 'Oh my God, what did I do today?'' she says.
'And on top of everything, all I want to do most of the time is just go work out because it makes me so happy,' she continues. 'It's, like, the one moment in my life when everything is quiet and I don't have to think about anything or please anybody.'