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‘Bad Influence’ docuseries examines ‘kidfluencing’ through Piper Rockelle and the Squad

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The concept explored in Netflix’s new documentary “Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing” is “Kidfluencing,” a term that refers to children earning millions of viewers (and money) on social media platforms. This documentary delves into the shady, unsupervised world of this industry by focusing on the story of Piper Rockelle, a popular YouTube personality managed by her mother Tiffany Smith.

11 former associates of Smith, collectively known as “the Squad”, filed a lawsuit against him in January 2022 seeking $22 million. They alleged that he had breached California’s child labor laws, failed to pay them, and most significantly, engaged in sexual misconduct. An investigation by The Times published later in the year presented a wealth of evidence including court records, emails, casting calls, talent releases, filming schedules, interviews with plaintiffs and parents, which revealed a pattern of dominating and abusive behavior by Smith. Following the filing of the lawsuit, Rockelle publicly defended her mother.

Smith stated to The Times that this entire dispute is rooted in monetary envy-fueled deceit. Eventually, the lawsuit was resolved with a $1.85 million settlement in October. Yet, the plaintiffs and their families assert they continue to carry emotional wounds from their experience within the Squad.

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Inside the blockbuster lawsuit threatening one teen YouTube star’s multimillion-dollar empire

The investigation by The New York Times reveals a disturbing look at the world of social media content creation, which is largely unregulated, as evidenced by the lawsuit filed against “kidfluencer” Piper Rockelle.

According to reports from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, it has been exposed that male predators make up a significant portion of young female content creators’ main audience. A documentary brings light to a private group chat where these predators commend so-called momagers for facilitating their access to child-oriented content. Furthermore, the docuseries reveals how influencer managers have managed to bypass child labor laws – a loophole that was sealed following the signing of legislation last fall extending California’s Coogan Law. As Taylor Lorenz, an expert on influencer culture and commentator on cultural issues, states in the documentary: “Until we start recognizing influencing as work, those children are in trouble.

In this supportive role, I’d express it like: “I had the pleasure of watching a documentary directed by Jenna Rosher and Kief Davidson. This thought-provoking series includes insightful interviews with ex-Squad members, their parents, collaborators, journalists, and experts on internet culture. The docuseries delves deep into Rockelle’s journey—from a young girl creating dance videos to the ruler of an online dynasty, and eventually posting suggestive bedroom selfies as a teenager.

How Piper Rockelle went from pageants to being on camera

Born in Georgia to a single mother named Smith, Rockelle started participating in beauty pageants at just 3 years old. As she grew up, her life intersected with the rise of social media platforms such as Twitter and reality TV. Her first significant opportunity came on the Lifetime reality show “Dance Twins,” and not long after, she amassed a fanbase on the app Musical.ly, where individuals shared lip sync and dance clips – this platform was eventually taken over by ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok.

Encouraged by Rockelle’s initial achievement, the family relocated to Los Angeles in 2017. Upon arrival, Rockelle landed roles in shows like “Mani” on Brat TV, a series centered around a male nanny. It was during this time that she crossed paths with Sophie Fergi, who would later become her close friend and squad member. However, Rockelle decided to depart from the show after Smith expressed concerns over another child receiving more lines than her daughter. Instead, Rockelle turned to YouTube, where Smith capitalized on their everyday life. In the early videos, Rockelle’s character emerged vividly as she engaged in activities such as making fluffy slime. Over time, the content evolved to become more scripted.

The Squad was assembled to supercharge Rockelle’s presence and earnings

YouTube employs an effective monetization strategy centered around maintaining user engagement. To amplify this, YouTubers can unite in teams, where each member’s success contributes to the collective; examples include Team 10 led by Jake Paul or David Dobrik’s Vlog Squad. Following suit, Smith started a group of children around Rockelle in 2018, which later became known as the Squad.

Hunter Hill, who initially presented himself as Rockelle’s elder sibling in early videos, later took on the roles of cameraman and editor for the group, known as The Squad. At that time, Hill was 20 years old and romantically involved with Smith, who is sixteen years his senior. However, according to previous members of the Squad, it’s unclear whether Rockelle was fully aware of the nature of their relationship, as suggested in the documentary.

Smith proposed that collaborators receive increased visibility as payment, and once parents noticed their children’s YouTube accounts gaining thousands of followers, and subsequently income, it seemed to happen almost instantaneously. Ashley Rock Smith, Tiffany Smith’s sister-in-law, whose daughter Claire later joined the team, explained, “This is potentially life-altering money. At first, you don’t know how to react. You’re thinking, is this too good to be true?” In exchange, the children were required to share their YouTube account details with Hill, who then optimized these accounts.

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Squad members worked long hours, which intensified during the pandemic

In the whirlwind of fame that Rockelle and her squad experienced, I found myself growing increasingly demanding, as shared by parents and their kids we were living with. In the revealing documentary, Fergie, my housemate alongside her mother, shed light on our relentless content creation schedule, often lasting 12 hours or more each day. Post-shooting, it was a race against time to clean up and get enough sleep before waking up at the crack of dawn for schoolwork, only to repeat this cycle all over again.

In an inquiry by The Times, former squad members claimed that Rockelle grappled with reading, a struggle she attributed to dyslexia. As the pandemic lockdowns ensued and audiences craved content to fill their idle time, Smith and Hill started meticulously directing videos. “Ultimately,” Sawyer Sharbino, a former squad member, remarked, “it felt like we were merely puppets being told what to do.

When Smith started pushing “crush content,” collaborators became uncomfortable

In my perspective as a movie reviewer, the showrunner, Smith, steered the cast towards a trendy phenomenon known as “crush content,” where popular influencers were intentionally paired together for on-screen romantic relationships. For instance, Rockelle and Gavin Magnus were paired, and they were affectionately referred to as Pavin; Fergie was paired with Jentzen Ramirez, and they went by the ship name Jophie. These pairings became trending hashtags. However, as crush content gained momentum, cast members allege that Smith put them in awkward situations and exhibited inappropriate behavior herself.

Heather Trimmer, Fergie’s mother who served as the Squad’s stylist, reported that Smith pressured her to buy more revealing clothes for Rockelle. The young cast was encouraged to exaggerate their physical attributes, such as sticking out their butts and sucking in their stomachs for thumbnail clips. Corinne Joy, a former cast member, shared an alarming incident where Smith inquired about her knowledge of oral sex and laughed as she asked if Joy would be willing to perform it on a fellow cast member, Hill. Joy expressed that she felt powerless to say no at the time.

The lawsuit uncovered a shocking event from 2017, extensively covered in the documentary, where Smith (then aged 36) forcefully kissed Raegan Fingles (also known as Raegan Beast on social media), twice during an online hangout with Rockelle and others. This incident occurred while Fingles, who was only 17 at the time, alleged that Smith had supplied alcohol to minors present. The video of this event was removed from the internet the following day; in the documentary, Fingles expressed doubts about someone’s influence if they could erase a video completely.

Parents accused Smith of manipulating them and their children

As team members started noticing questionable actions, they expressed that Smith made them feel cornered or confined. For instance, when Joy told her mother Steevy Areeco that Smith was sending Rockelle’s underwear to older men, Areeco removed Joy from the team. This action led Joy to claim that Smith retaliated against her and instructed other members to cut off contact with her. Angela Sharbino, mother of Sawyer Sharbino, stated in a documentary that “Once you join her team, you’re aware of the repercussions if you ever go against her.

In another situation, Jentzen Ramirez’s mother, Johna Kay Ramirez, attempted to remove her son from the group he was part of. However, Smith persuaded his father to allow him to remain, and Johna Ramirez claimed that Smith turned her son against her. She sought a divorce in order to share custody of him, but eventually, Jentzen Ramirez stopped communicating with his mother. Later on, the Squad secretly filmed a video in Johna Ramirez’s Austin, Texas residence without her consent, which she perceived as a direct threat from Smith.

Accusations of sexual, verbal and emotional abuse sometimes involved Smith’s pets

Collaborators claimed that when displaying abusive behavior towards Rockelle and her cousins Claire and Reese, Smith would adopt the persona of one of her deceased cats named Lenny. On one occasion, as Reese described, her aunt held her down on a bed and simulated Lenny’s genitals by rubbing her arm all over Reese’s body. Later, Reese stated that she managed to lock herself in Smith’s bathroom, with Smith claiming to be outside the door with her pants down. After some time, Reese tried to leave the bathroom, but Smith once again pinned her to the bed until Reese was eventually able to escape. Additionally, Fergi recalled similar unsettling events such as waking up to find Smith on top of her. Because these incidents were considered normal, Fergi said she didn’t know how to respond.

Entertainment & Arts

Tiffany Smith, mother of YouTube star Piper Rockelle, resolves a lawsuit brought forth by other child actors claiming they experienced an abusive work environment.

Parents expressed guilt about failing to protect their children

During production, Smith strictly prohibited parents from entering the main house; they were only permitted access to the rear house. In retrospect, the mothers of the ex-Squad members voiced remorse for not doing more to safeguard their children. “We’re their moms and our role is to protect them, but we didn’t,” said Trimmer. “We couldn’t. We didn’t know.” In the documentary, Jennifer Bryant, mother of ex-Squad member Walker Bryant, admitted that her actions might have appeared foolish from an outside perspective, but the situation was intricate because Smith was a skilled manipulator. It wasn’t until the parents consulted with a lawyer regarding a potential lawsuit against Smith and Hill concerning the dwindling views on their children’s YouTube channels that the sexual abuse allegations surfaced.

Despite the lawsuit and negative media attention, Smith and Rockelle are still creating content

2024 saw the resolution of the legal dispute involving Smith and Hill, with a $1.85 million settlement reached. In the ensuing documentary, Ashley Rock Smith expressed her daughter’s dissatisfaction with the outcome, as she desired to testify before the judge and jury about the events; however, their main objective was to bring attention to their hardships, hoping other families could learn from their experiences. As attorney Matt Sarelson commented in the documentary, “A lawsuit can often be where justice is lost.

Even though the lawsuit led to Rockelle’s YouTube channel being demonetized, Smith and Rockelle continue to create content. Now, Rockelle works as a creator on BrandArmy, which is similar to OnlyFans but without explicit content. The documentary implies that Rockelle may have been the one most harmed by these events.

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2025-04-12 02:01

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