Netflix is shining a new light on young influencers in their upcoming docuseries Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing.
The three-part deep dive — which premieres on April 9 — focuses on Piper Rockelle, the now-17-year-old with a massive social media presence across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. The teen built an audience by staging pranks for videos, participating in trending challenges and hinting at crushes amongst her group of friends.
Though the content took off with millions of views and likes from fans and followers, Bad Influence highlights that Rockelle’s “Squad” was made up of carefully cast kid actors, many of whom have nightmarish stories to tell about the star’s mom and manager, Tiffany Smith.
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In January 2022, 11 teen content creators filed a complaint against Smith, claiming 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 for Piper’s YouTube channel.”
What unfolded was a child abuse lawsuit that was settled in October 2024. The $1.85 million settlement was entered without any admission of liability or the validity or lack thereof of any claims or defenses.
Prior to the trailer’s official release, Smith tells PEOPLE she’s “finally happy to say” the legal issues are behind her.
“Obviously we didn’t do anything that was alleged, but sadly, money is a big motivator for certain personalities in this world. We made the decision to put this behind us because honestly, prolonged litigation would be even more harmful and painful to everyone involved – which includes kids,” says Smith in the statement. “Piper is a minor, and has already been through a great deal of unnecessary and harmful scrutiny. So we prioritized mental health, and made the decision to put this behind us and focus on the next phase of her career.”
For her part, Rockelle describes the “whole experience” as “extremely painful and, honestly, hard to understand,” she says in a statement issued to PEOPLE. She adds, “Not just because of the people making ridiculous claims about me and my family — but also how the media has been.”
The 17-year-old influencer continues, “It’s been incredibly hard because the media and social media have been relentless and so hurtful, without understanding or even trying to understand the truth. It’s become impossible to even look at my phone or do normal, day-to-day things. It’s been so incredibly painful. Thank goodness for my family. And thank goodness this is finally behind us.”
In the Netflix docuseries, some of Rockelle’s costars step forward to detail the alleged exploitation, manipulation and abuse they endured working under Smith. Snippets of featured testimonies in the trailer recall how Smith would set up scenes, instructing the kids on how to hug and pose with each other.
“She would be like, over and over, ‘Sex sells. Make it sexy,'” one person shared in voiceover audio as older footage of the kids played.
“Tiffany finds people who want to be famous. She takes advantage of them,” a featured commentator can be heard saying in a voiceover from the trailer. In a confessional, another contributor compared the YouTube group to a cult.
In addition to their harrowing encounters with momager Smith, Rockelle and her fellow kid influencers were exposed to an audience often largely made up of adult men. The new Netflix series poses the question of whether or not it’s okay for a child’s “vulnerabilities to be displayed to random strangers” online.
As mentioned in the trailer, what “seemed so innocent” from an outsider’s perspective was far from it, especially as the kids involved started to bring in a considerable amount of cash. The sneak peek notes that Rockelle was earning around $500,000 per month.
“It’s not just these kids, it’s so many others. And if something isn’t done, these won’t be the last kids,” concluded another contributor.
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