A years-long case involving the mother of a popular YouTube star and 11 young video makers who accused her of abuse and exploitation was resolved on Tuesday after the parties agreed a $1.85 million settlement, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
Tiffany Smith was sued in January 2022 by a group of teens who were frequently featured on her daughter Piper Rockelle’s popular YouTube channel, which at the time had 8.85 million subscribers.
The producers claimed that Smith, 43, purposefully caused mental pain while in charge of creating video for Rockelle’s YouTube channel. According to the complaint, they claimed they suffered bodily and emotional injuries as a result of “harassment, molestation, and abuse.”
Some of the plaintiffs also claimed they were not reimbursed for using their likenesses to promote Rockelle’s content, and all claimed they were not paid for their work and appearances, despite not being guaranteed payment.
In a statement announcing the settlement, plaintiffs’ attorney Matt Sarelson of the Dhillon Law Group praised them for their bravery and called their ordeal as “grotesque.”
In a December 2022 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Smith stated that she did not consider herself the plaintiffs’ employment at the time the tapes with Rockelle were recorded. Smith eventually obtained a permit to work with adolescents, she told the newspaper. Last year, Smith countersued for $30 million, alleging that the plaintiffs’ mothers conspired to extort money by inventing bogus sexual assault charges. She voluntarily dropped the lawsuit before the mothers could respond.
According to the Dhillon Law Group, the plaintiffs, who are all still juveniles, originally sought approximately $2 million in damages each, for a total of at least $22 million, from Smith and her boyfriend, Hunter Hill, who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit and is part of the settlement. The complaint named him as the director and editor of Rockelle’s YouTube channel.
According to a spokeswoman for the plaintiffs’ legal company, Smith denied any misconduct as part of the settlement terms. An attorney for Smith and Hill declined to comment.
In a December 2022 interview with the Times, Hill refuted allegations of abuse in the complaint and stated that he didn’t understand why the plaintiffs were upset because “these kids were making more money than my mom makes in an entire year.”
Smith also claimed that after the channels were monetized, the creators made “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
The 11 young creators appeared on Rockelle’s channel as part of a group known as the “Piper Squad.” The producers of Rockelle’s channel, which currently has 12 million followers, took part in a variety of pranks and challenges. Regardless of their ages, the plaintiffs claimed in their case that they were asked to fake romantic “crushes” on each other for content purposes.
The juvenile producers’ assertions shed light on the lucrative and mostly unregulated world of child YouTube stardom, which some have compared to the Wild West.
Many people have publicly urged the business to put restrictions in place to assist protect child content creators. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which addressed “excessive child labor,” has not been revised to include kid influencers. The popular YouTube family channel genre, which has been viewed as a viable business due to ad revenue and corporate collaboration prospects, has faced widespread criticism in recent years for depending on children to provide monetized material.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, joined by former child star Demi Lovato, signed two measures this month to protect the incomes of child influencers and content creators. A few other states, including Illinois, which was the first, have introduced legislation aimed at safeguarding juvenile content creators.
Angela Sharbino, one of the plaintiffs’ parents, stated that they “didn’t pursue this lawsuit to change the industry, but to bring awareness that predators can be found in any field.”
“This was never about the money — it was about holding an individual accountable, telling the truth, and taking a step toward healing,” she told reporters. “All of these kids have now moved on from the ‘Squad’ and are closing this chapter of their lives.”
