1 week Ago By Daisy Phillipson
Tiffany Smith, the momager of Piper Rockelle, faces a long line of allegations in Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing , sparking questions about whether she has faced any criminal charges. Much like Hulu’s Devil in the Family , Bad Influence places child influencing under the spotlight, exploring the ethical issues and dangers that arise when minors are thrust into public view. Rather than telling the story through Ruby Franke , the new Netflix documentary series examines Tiffany Smith, mother of social media star Piper Rockelle.
Former members of The Squad and insiders speak out about their experiences, making disturbing allegations of exploitation, manipulation, and sexual abuse against Smith. Warning: some may find this content distressing. Is Tiffany Smith in jail? Despite the allegations against her, Tiffany Smith has never been criminally charged , meaning she hasn’t been to prison.
Right now, she appears to still direct content for her daughter, Piper Rockelle. As is revealed in Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, Smith did get slapped with a $22 million lawsuit in 2022 by 11 former Squad members, accusing her of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse during their time working on Piper’s YouTube channel. Hunter Hill, a fellow content creator who was dating Smith and helped create Piper’s videos, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
In October 2024, a $1.85 million settlement was reached. At the time, a spokesperson for the plaintiffs’ law firm told NBC News that Smith denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement terms.
Sophie Fergi, a former Squad member, says in the new documentary that the lawsuit was never about the money. “It was to make sure she couldn’t do what she did to me to another kid,” she explains. Related Did Belle Gibson have a second child? Truth behind Search For Instagram’s Worst Con Artist Text at the end of Bad Influence reveals, “Tiffany Smith, Hunter Hill, and Piper Rockelle, via their attorney, declined to be interviewed or provide a comment for this series.
“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. “No criminal charges have been filed against either party.
” Given the seriousness of the allegations, Smith and Hill could face criminal charges if an official police investigation is launched. But there have been no official comments from the authorities at the time of writing. Where is Piper Rockelle now? Piper Rockelle is now 17 years old, and she continues creating content online .
She currently has 14.8 million followers on TikTok, 6.2 million on Instagram, and 12.
1 million subscribers on YouTube. Rather than criticizing Piper, her friends and family share their concerns for her wellbeing under the care of Smith, stating she too is a victim of her mom’s alleged abuse. Piper has never publicly expressed this view, and she appears to have taken a couple of jabs at the Netflix docu-series on social media.
In one TikTok video, text across the screen reads, “Will you still be my friend if I watch the doc?” Meanwhile, Piper mouths the words, “I don’t wanna be friends,” to Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’. In another clip, she mimes scrolling through her comments section, with a caption that says, “Seeing how easy it was for you to switch up on me.” Despite being underage, former Squad members and relatives describe Piper’s disturbing switch to more sexual content on her various platforms, which they accuse Smith of orchestrating.
After the 2022 lawsuit and the allegations against Smith, YouTube demonetized Piper’s channel, directly impacting her stream of revenue, which was estimated to be between $300,000 and $500,000 per month. Major brands started pulling out, with Sarah Adams – who advocates for minor safety on social media via her Mom.Uncharted platform – stating that Smith has had to diversify Piper’s brand and look at other channels to “monetize her child.
” One of these avenues is Snapchat, but there’s another more disturbing channel that’s facing scrutiny. “I’m also aware that Piper is on another website called BrandArmy,” adds Sarah. “And BrandArmy is often compared to OnlyFans, but it doesn’t do nudity.
” However, Taylor Lorenz, author of Extremely Online, states, “On BrandArmy, you can be as young as 13 to actually create content on there. But in order for people to subscribe to that content, they have to be at least 18.” This means BrandArmy is a website that is allowing adults to subscribe to exclusive content of minors.
“I don’t know how a website justifies this,” says Sarah. “I don’t know how it’s legal.” Snapshots of Piper’s BrandArmy account shows her sharing sexually suggestive content despite being underage.
Piper’s step cousin, Claire RockSmith, says, “My heart hearts for Piper, seeing her on something like that. And who knows if she even has a decision in being on it. “The Piper that I knew, that is absolutely not what she wants to do.
” Claire’s sister Reese adds, “I’m kind of concerned...
seeing the content now, like Piper in bathing suits. I wish I knew what was going on.” Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing is streaming on Netflix now.
For more true crime news, read about where Rex Heuermann is now , find out when the next episode of Good American Family drops , and check out the most shocking details in the Karen Read docu-series ..
