Where Is Tiffany Smith Now? Inside The Disturbing Scandal Involving Piper Rockelle's Mom

Forbes

10-04-2025

Netflix's new docuseries, Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, dives into the troubling world of child influencers, centering on teen YouTuber Piper Rockelle. The series investigates claims that her mother, Tiffany Smith, created an 'emotionally, physically, and sometimes sexually abusive environment' for members of The Squad, a group of rising kidfluencers who regularly appeared in videos alongside Piper.
At the peak of her online fame, Rockelle reportedly earned up to $625,000 a month from brand partnerships and other revenue streams. As her popularity grew, her mother started managing her and recruiting other aspiring young creators to join Rockelle in her videos, forming a group known as 'The Squad.'
Rockelle and The Squad posted various fun and silly videos, from lip-syncs and pranks to skits and challenges. Members of The Squad have included Sophie Fergi, Gavin Magnus, Sawyer Sharbino, Hayden Haas, Corinne Joy, Jentzen Ramirez, Claire Rock Smith, Symonne Harrison, and others.
Behind the scenes, Smith and her boyfriend, Hunter Hill, were the driving forces behind the group's content and success. However, several parents of Squad members began to raise questions about Smith's behavior both on and off camera. These concerns eventually led to a bombshell 2022 lawsuit against the momager.
The lawsuit and Netflix docuseries shed light on the blurred and unregulated world of social media, where children spend long hours creating videos and branded content and have the potential to make millions. But because the content is made within their own homes, child labor laws are not consistently upheld.
Tiffany Smith is the mother and manager of her daughter, Piper Rockelle. Smith raised Rockelle as a single mother while living with her parents in Canton, Georgia, according to the Los Angeles Times.
'I feel like she [Piper] saved my life,' Smith told the publication. 'I didn't love myself at all. But when I had her, I just felt like I had a purpose in life.'
Rockelle became fascinated with beauty pageants as a child after watching the TLC reality series Toddlers & Tiaras. According to Netflix, she entered—and won—her first pageant at just three years old. Tiffany, who owned a pet grooming business then, quickly shifted her focus to supporting Piper's pageant career full-time.
While Smith said Piper was 'feeling defeated' in the pageant world by age seven and had taken an interest in an app called Musical.ly—sparking her entry into video-making—Smith's sister, Patience Rock Smith, claims it was Smith who pushed Piper to pursue social media, according to People.
Rockelle launched her Musical.ly account in 2016 and quickly became one of the platform's top creators. She started a YouTube channel shortly afterward, following a suggestion from a social media manager who approached Piper and Smith at a Musical.ly meet-and-greet in Los Angeles in November 2016.
Hunter Hill, Tiffany Smith's boyfriend, moved to Los Angeles at 19 with aspirations of becoming an influencer, according to the Los Angeles Times. He met Smith and Piper Rockelle at a conference in L.A. and soon after began assisting with Piper's YouTube channel.
Though Hill initially appeared in Piper's YouTube videos playing the role of her older brother, he was heavily involved behind the scenes, handling much of the filming and editing, according to the Netflix docuseries. He was also romantically involved with Smith, and by 2017, after Smith and Piper relocated to Los Angeles full-time, the three began living together.
In January 2022, several former Squad members—including two of Piper's cousins—filed a lawsuit against Tiffany Smith, seeking $22 million in damages. The suit alleged that Smith fostered 'an emotionally, physically and sometimes sexually abusive environment" on and off set during time spent with her company, Piper Rockelle Inc.
The complaint described Smith as a 'mean-spirited control freak' whose interactions with the content creators 'were not only sexually inappropriate and confrontational, but often reprehensible and even illegal."
The complaint also numerous instances where Smith allegedly touched the plaintiffs ( who are all minors) inappropriately, including 'sticking a finger in Plaintiffs' butts when they walked past her,' commenting on how 'big' one Plaintiff's breasts looked and attempting to squeeze them, and offering to show an 11-year-old girl how to perform oral sex.
She also allegedly said sexually explicit things to the male teens about their penises. In another instance, Smith allegedly 'mailed out several of Piper's soiled training bras and panties to an unknown individual' and said that 'old men like to smell this stuff,' according to the lawsuit.
An explosive 2022 Los Angeles Times investigation into Rockelle's business found that Smith 'operated a multimillion-dollar company that did not pay the children who filmed popular videos with her daughter, and that the children worked long hours without scheduled breaks for rest or meals and were not provided with regular on-set education, according to a review of dozens of court filings, emails, casting calls, talent releases and filming schedules, as well as interviews with the plaintiffs and their parents."
The Squad also claimed that Smith failed to compensate them properly for their work. While Rockelle reportedly made up to $625,000 a month, the other teens claimed that they often worked without meals or rest breaks, and they were not provided with on-set schooling.
The plaintiffs sought $22 million in damages, based mainly on claims that Piper Rockelle Inc. conspired to intentionally interfere with and sabotage the plaintiffs' individual YouTube channels, resulting in declining subscribers and financial losses.
In October 2024, the civil lawsuit filed against Tiffany Smith by former Squad members was settled for $1.85 million. As part of the settlement, all parties explicitly denied any admission of liability.
Although it was less money than the former Squad members were seeking, the settlement "allowed the plaintiffs to avoid going to trial and having to 'testify about things that [they] have put behind them,' Matthew Sarelson, the plaintiff's attorney, told the Los Angeles Times.
'This lawsuit was never about money,' plaintiff Sophia F.'s mother, Heather Trimmel, said. 'It was to make sure she couldn't do what she did to me to another kid.'
As of April 10, 2025, no criminal charges have been filed against either party. At the end of the Netflix's docuseries, a text reads: 'Tiffany Smith has publicly denied the accounts of the former Squad members and their parents. Smith and Hunter Hill have also publicly denied the allegations laid out in the 2022 lawsuit.
After the accusations against her mother, YouTube demonetized Piper's channel, which meant she could no longer run advertisements or generate revenue from her videos. (At her peak, Rockelle reportedly made between $4.2 million and $7.5 million a year, according to the Los Angeles Times.)
According to court records obtained by the newspaper, the demonetization of Piper's content led to losses of between $300,000 and $500,000 per month for her and Smith's business. In the wake of the allegations against her mother, Rockelle also lost several brand deals and partnerships.
In 2022, Smith told the Los Angeles Times she believed the claims against her derived from The Squad's 'financial jealousy of a 15-year-old girl.'
She also feared the legal drama would ruin Piper's life. 'I don't care. Make me look like a monster. I'm used to it,' she added. 'They're using me. ... But they're hurting Piper.'
As of April 2025, 17-year-old Piper Rockelle continues to create content on YouTube, where she has amassed over 12 million subscribers. She also remains active on Instagram, with 6.1 million followers, and has her largest audience on TikTok, where she currently boasts 14.8 million followers.
Smith, Hill, and Rockelle, through their attorney, declined to be interviewed or provide a comment for Bad Influence, according to Netflix.
Smith's Instagram account is currently private, and while she likely remains involved in managing her daughter's social media presence, the content creators who once regularly appeared in videos with Piper are no longer part of the picture.
Bad Influence: The Dark Side Of Kidfluencing is streaming on Netflix. Watch the official trailer below.