Shivangi Sinha
In January 2022, a group of 11 individuals filed a lawsuit against Tiffany Smith, accusing her of misconduct and abusive behavior. The plaintiffs were parents of children who had collaborated with rising internet personality Piper Rockelle, who is also Tiffany’s daughter. They claimed that the latter financially exploited them and engaged in various inappropriate actions involving the child influencers. Netflix’s ‘Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing’ delves deep into this case and provides a thorough exploration of the incident. It featured perspectives from people who have known Tiffany over the years and tried to understand what they make of her.
Tiffany Smith Was Always Closely Involved in Her Daughter’s Career as a Digital Creator
Tiffany Smith, also known as Tiffany Rockelle, reportedly did not have a stable family home when growing up. She revealed that her parents divorced and got back together, adding that her father was allegedly abusive. Tiffany did well at her school and even played the flute first chair in the school orchestra. However, after graduation, she attempted to make a career as a model. She was living in Georgia when she gave birth to her daughter, Piper Rockelle, on August 21, 2007. She was working as a dog groomer at the time. Her partner left the relationship before the baby was born, leaving her to raise her as a single mother. In an interview, she said that since she saw her little one’s desire to perform at the age of 4, she had tried to support it.
According to her sister, Patience Rock Smith, Tiffany was determined early on to turn Piper into a star and entered her in various baby shows and pageants. She also shared that her relationship with Tiffany became strained around the time the latter’s daughter was nine years old following a significant argument. She claimed she had tried to speak to her sister about providing Piper with a more structured and traditional education, which she felt was allegedly lacking in her upbringing. During this time, Tiffany was fully invested in supporting Piper’s rise to internet fame. By 2016, the then 11-year-old had begun posting videos on YouTube and landed a breakout role in the series ‘Mani.’ Her mother stepped into the role of “momager,” managing her daughter’s growing online presence and frequently involving other children working in similar spaces to collaborate on content.
As Piper’s channel gained traction, Tiffany recognized the opportunity and relocated with her daughter to Los Angeles, California, in pursuit of broader career prospects in 2019. Around this period, she also began dating Hunter Hill, who often portrayed Piper’s older brother in her YouTube videos. Once in Los Angeles, Tiffany reportedly developed the concept of creating a group of children around Piper’s age to appear on her YouTube channel regularly. These kids were often the latter’s friends, and the videos typically revolved around lighthearted content—pranks, glimpses into their daily lives, and themes like tween crushes. Tiffany encouraged collaborations with other young content creators, inviting kids who were either interested in or already involved in digital content to join in.
Tiffany Faced Numerous Allegations From Some Parents of Piper’s Squad
By 2020, Tiffany Smith was also managing her daughter’s company, Piper Rockelle Inc., through which the channel’s content was being produced and overseen. Many of these children and their parents would spend considerable time at her LA home, with some even living there. While no formal contracts bound them to Tiffany, several parents later alleged that she operated as an employer, taking charge of schedules, content direction, and overall management of the kids’ careers. Hunter was also a part of these productions and lived in the same house. At first glance, her involvement in her daughter’s career appeared similar to many mothers managing their child’s rise to fame. However, soon, several families started distancing themselves from her. By September 2021, many parents had come together and consulted an attorney.
This culminated in January 2022 when 11 plaintiffs—parents of children who had collaborated with Piper—filed a lawsuit against Tiffany and her partner, Hunter. The lawsuit alleged a pattern of emotional manipulation and claimed that both physical and psychological harm had been inflicted on the young participants. They accused her of harassment, inappropriate behavior, and even molestation. Among their grievances was the claim that the children were financially exploited—appearing in content without any form of compensation despite not having formal agreements. Additionally, the suit pointed to a disregard for child labor laws under Tiffany’s supervision. Notably, the legal filing also included serious allegations of sexual misconduct against her.
They also quoted a now-deleted video of her in which she was allegedly seen kissing a 17-year-old boy during a livestream. Several parents have claimed that after their children parted ways with Tiffany, she began to actively target their kids’ YouTube channels. They alleged that she orchestrated hate campaigns against them, which coincided with noticeable drops in views and engagement on the children’s private accounts. In addition, former collaborators and individuals who once lived in her household voiced concerns about Piper’s education, alleging that it was often neglected in favor of content creation. They also accused Tiffany of exercising strict creative control over the channel’s output, usually mimicking trends and ideas from other creators to maintain relevance and viewership. The lawsuit resulted in the demonetization of Piper’s YouTube channel.
Tiffany is Managing Her Daughter’s Career Even Today
In December 2022, Tiffany Smith gave an interview in which she firmly denied all allegations against her. She stated that she never considered herself the “employer” of the children who appeared on Piper’s channel, but she viewed them as kids simply filming content in her home using a phone. She addressed each specific claim, dismissing them as baseless and untrue. She also responded to the accusations about deliberately harming the performance of the other kids’ channels, saying that any drop in their ratings or engagement was likely because they were no longer collaborating with Piper, who was the most popular among them. According to her, collaborations naturally boosted visibility and numbers for everyone involved.
Not long after this, Tiffany obtained a legal permit to work with minors in a professional setting. In 2023, she filed a $30 million counter-lawsuit against the plaintiffs, accusing them of conspiring to extort money from her by making false allegations of sexual abuse. However, the case did not proceed; she eventually withdrew the lawsuit. By October 2024, both parties reached a settlement of $1.85 million—significantly lower than the original $22 million sought by the plaintiffs. At the time, neither Tiffany nor her legal team offered any public comments regarding the outcome. Since the settlement, she has kept a relatively low profile.
While she hasn’t shared much about her personal life publicly, Tiffany continues serving as Piper’s “momager” and remains most likely still in a relationship with Hunter Hill. She has occasionally stepped in front of the camera, appearing in a few of her daughter’s music videos and online content. Between 2020 and 2023, she was featured in nine episodes of the TV series ‘Piper Rockelle’ and contributed behind the scenes by writing two episodes and producing one. These credits suggest that she may be exploring creative avenues for herself and could potentially pursue more significant roles in the future. For now, however, her primary focus appears to remain on managing Piper’s career and supporting her daughter’s growing brand.
