Piper Rockelle became a huge star on camera. Off camera, her mom became a huge controversy.
On Wednesday, April 9, Netflix released a documentary titled Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing. The three-part series examines allegations surrounding Tiffany Smith, the momager (mom/manager) for kid influencer Piper Rockelle.
Piper Rockelle is a 17-year-old girl that has been in the Brat TV productions “Chicken Girls” and “Mani”; however, she is mainly known for the YouTube videos she and her friends (The Squad) created starting back in 2018.
In 2022, 11 of the teens in The Squad filed a court complaint against Smith. Zoey Lyttle from People.com writes that the teens alleged that they were “frequently subjected to an emotionally, physically, and sometimes sexually abusive environment, perpetrated by Ms. Smith on and off set during filming sessions…” Lyttle goes on to explain that the child abuse lawsuit was settled in October 2024, and the teens received $1.85 million.
Despite the settlement, they still felt that justice had not yet been served. So, most of the kids of the kids decided to participate in a documentary about their experiences and the concept of “kidfluencing” altogether. Some of these experiences included the following, “the 10 videos they filmed daily, the 12 hours it took to film them, not doing school, and sometimes going without eating.” They alleged that Smith was responsible for all of this, and that she did not even allow their parents in her house.
After the documentary was announced, they were repeatedly asked on social media, “Why didn’t you wait until Piper was 18?” “Why are you even making the documentary?” One of the teens from The Squad, Sophie Fergi, on her show Girl Talk, says she was in the documentary to spread awareness and help people who may be in similar situations. She also says, “…it’s to help Piper, and if more people see the documentary, hopefully the cops will go and investigate her mom.”
At the end of the documentary, three former members of The Squad, Sophie Fergi, Corrine Joy, and Claire RockSmith all share, “I hope Piper realizes what she’s in and is able to get out”. Rock Smith is Piper’s cousin, and Smith’s actions heavily affected their ability to have a relationship. RockSmith expressed: “it was hard for me to leave Piper, because I didn’t want her to feel like I was abandoning her, and I want her to know I love her and it’s not her fault.” A horrible thing happened to RockSmith and the others, and their ability to understand the complexity of their emotions and still want the best for Piper shows great emotional maturity.
After seeing the documentary my self, I believe that it really was meant to help Piper and not hurt her. The main claim of the documentary is one of policy, meaning, they are not trying to hurt Piper’s reputation or feelings, their hope is that like acting, laws are made to prevent this from happening to other kids.