“Kidfluencing”, a term used to describe children in millions of spectators (and dollars) on social networks, is the theme of Netflix's last documentary “Bad influence: the dark side of Kidfluencing.” The three -part series examines this dark industry and not regulated throughout the story of Piper Rockelle, a viral youtuber administered by his mother Tiffany Smith.
In January 2022, Smith was sued for $ 22 million for 11 of the former Rockelle collaborators, collectively known as the team. They accused Smith of violating the children's labor laws in California, do not compensate them and, above all, of inappropriate sexual behavior. TO Time Research Published later that year he compiled dozens of judicial presentations, emails, casting calls, talent releases and filming schedules, as well as interviews with plaintiffs and parents, revealing a control pattern and abusive behavior of Smith. Following the presentation of the lawsuit, Rockelle defended his mother.
“This whole case is based on lies driven by financial jealousy,” Smith He told The Times. The demand was finally resolved for $ 1.85 million last October. However, the plaintiffs, and their parents, say that they still carry the scars of their time in the team.
Reports of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times He has discovered how male predators are the dominant audience for young female content creators. The documentary highlights a group chat where the predators praised the so -called moments to facilitate the easiest content consumption for them. In addition, docuseries explain how the managers of influential people have bordered the children's labor laws, an escape since it closed after the legislation was signed last autumn, expanding the Coogan de California law. “Until we begin to see the influence as labor, those children are screwed,” said Taylor Lorenz, a culture commentator and an expert in culture of influence who is interviewed in docuseries.
The documentary was led by Jenna Rosher and Kief Davidson and presents interviews with former team members, their parents, other collaborators, journalists and internet culture experts. Here are some conclusions of the docuseries that explores how Rocklle went from a child who makes dance videos to the star of an online empire to a teenager who publishes bedroom selfies in disaster.
Piper Rockelle, a childhood influencer whose history is the theme of Netflix docuseries.
(Netflix)
As Piper Rockelle He went from competitions to be in camera
Rockelle, who was born in Georgia de Smith, a single mother, began to compete in contests at 3 years. His childhood coincided with the emergence of social media platforms such as Twitter and reality shows. His first big break was in the life series of “Dance Twins” and soon Rockelle won followers in the musical application.ly, where users published lip synchronization and dance videos: the application was later acquired by Bytedonce, the Tiktok matrix company.
Estimated by the early success of Rockelle, the family moved to Los Angeles in 2017. Initially, Rockelle found work in programs like “Mani” of Brat TV, a program about a male nanny. It was there that he met Sophie Fergi, his eventual best friend and team member. However, Rockelle left the program after Smith complained that another boy got more lines than her daughter. Rockelle moved to YouTube, where Smith built a brand with its normality. In these first videos, Rockelle's personality shines, since he does activities such as spongy silt, but finally the content became more written.
The squad was Assembly to supercharge ROCKELLE presence and profits
YouTube presents a robust monetization scheme based on the sustained participation of the user. To overcome it, youtubers will form groups whose individual members feed the general success of the whole; The examples include team 10 of Jake Paul or David Dobrik's Vlog team. Smith borrowed from this model, promoting a group of children around Rockelle from 2018 that became the team.
Hunter Hill, who passed through Rockelle's older brother in the first videos, became the cameraman and team editor. Hill was 20 years old at that time, and in a relationship with Smith, which is 16 years old, although the former team members said in the Doc that Rockelle may not have known the scope of their relationship.
Smith would offer exposure as compensation to the collaborators, and after the parents saw that YouTube accounts increased by thousands of followers, and in turn, apparently during the night, they were sold. “We are talking about money that changes life. You don't know what to do at the beginning. You are like, is this real?” Ashley Rock Smith said, Tiffany Smith's sister -in -law, whose daughter Claire finally became a member of the team. In return, however, children would have to deliver their YouTube account information to Hill, who optimized their accounts.
The members of the squad worked long hours, which intensified during the pandemic
When Rockelle and the popularity of the squad fired, parents and children say Smith became more demanding. In the documentary, Fergi, who, along with his mother, lived with Smith and Rockelle, described how the team often fired content for more than 12 hours a day. Then, they would have to clean the house and wake up at 6 in the morning to complete their school work before doing it again. In Times's investigation, former team members alleged that Rockelle fought to read; She said it is dyslexic. During the height of the pandemic blockages, when the public had nothing to do more to see content, Smith and Hill began to carefully direct videos. “Eventually, it became that they told you what to do as you are a puppet,” said Sawyer Sharbino, a former team member.
When Smith began to push the “Crush content”, the collaborators felt uncomfortable
Smith began to push the team towards the “crushing content”, a popular trend where the influencers would be “sent” or paired for a relationship in the camera. For example, Rockelle was paired with Gavin Magnus and his name was Pavin, and Fergi was paired with Jentzen Ramírez and his name was Jophie: the names became trend hashtags. But as the “crushing content” shot himself, the squadron members say Smith put them in uncomfortable situations and acted inappropriately towards themselves. Heather Trimmer, Fergi's mother, acted as a team's stylist and said Smith pushed her to buy “sluttier” clothes for Rockelle; He encouraged children to get their butts and suck their stomachs to obtain miniature clips. The former team member, Corinne Joy, said Smith asked him once if he knew what a blowjob was and laughed while asking if he wanted to perform one in Hill. “I didn't know how to stop stopping, at all,” said Joy.
The lawsuit also revealed an atrocious incident of 2017 that is discussed extensively in the documentary, where Smith, then 36 years old, kissed by force Raegan Fingerles, known as Raegan Beast on social networks, twice during a live life with Rockelle and others. Fingles, who was 17 years old at that time, said Smith had provided alcohol to the minors who attended. However, the next morning, the video was deleted from the Internet; In the documentary, Fingles questioned the power of someone who could make a video disappear completely.
Sophie Fergi in a “Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing” scene.
(Netflix)
The parents accused Smith of manipulating them and their children
As the squad members became more aware of the irregularities, they said Smith made them feel trapped. For example, after Joy told his mother Steevy Areco that Smith was sending Rockelle underwear to older men, Areco took her out of the team. As a result, Joy said Smith the blacklist and ordered other members to stop communications. “Once you are inside, you know the consequences of even crossing it,” said Angela Sharbino, Sawyer Sharbino's mother, in the documentary.
In another case, Johna Kay Ramírez, Jentzen Ramirez's mother, a team member, tried to get her son from the group. But Smith convinced his father to let him stay, and Johna Ramírez claimed that Smith returned to her son against her. She requested divorce in an attempt to obtain the joint custody of him, but over time, Jentzen Ramírez stopped communicating with his mother. Later, the team filmed a video in Austin, Texas by Johna Ramírez, at home, without her knowledge, which she saw as a personal threat of Smith.
Accusations of sexual, verbal and emotional abuse sometimes involved Smith pets
The collaborators said that Smith would face Lenny's voice, one of his deceased cats, when he participates in abusive behavior addressed to Rockelle and his cousins Claire and Reese Rock Smith. Once, Reese said, her aunt held her to bed and rubbed her arm throughout Reese's body, pretending that it was Lenny's penis. Reese said he managed to lock himself in the bathroom of Smith, who told him that he was out of the door with low pants. After a while, Reese tried to get out of the bathroom, but Smith covered her in bed again before she finally could escape. Fergi also remembers disturbing documentary stages such as waking up with Smith on top of her. Because he had normalized, Fergi said he didn't know what to do.
Expressed parents blame about not protecting their children
During filming, Smith would not allow parents to enter the house; They could only visit the rear house. Looking back in the events, the mothers of the former team members expressed their regret for not doing enough to protect their children. “We are his mother and we are supposed to protect them, and we didn't do it,” Trimmer said. “We couldn't. We didn't know.” In the documentary, Jennifer Bryant, the mother of the former member of the Walker Bryant team, said that from the outside, he would think that his behavior was idiot, but that the situation was more complex because Smith was a master manipulator. It was not until the parents met with a lawyer to discuss a lawsuit against Smith and Hill about tank's opinions in the YouTube channels of their children that the accusations of sexual abuse came to light.
Despite the demand and negative attention of the media, Smith and Rockelle are still creating content
The demand against Smith and Hill was finally I liquidated $ 1.85 million In 2024. In the documentary, Ashley Rock Smith said that her daughter was disappointed with the resolution because she wanted to take the position and tell the judge and the jury what had happened; However, parents said their ultimate goal was to create visibility of their struggles so that other families could be aware. As lawyer Matt Sarelson says in the documentary: “In many ways, a lawsuit is where justice is going to die.”
However, despite the fact that the demand and the YouTube Rockelle account are demonized as a result of the accusations, Smith and Rockelle are still producing content. Rockelle is now a creator in Brandarmy, who is marketed as only fans but without nakedness. The documentary ends up suggesting that the final victim is Rockelle herself.
