![]() Smith is accused of child abuse and retaliation Smith has since acquired a permit to work with minors, she told the Times. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published in December, Smith said she didn’t consider herself the plaintiffs’ employer at the time the videos were filmed with Rockelle. Smith voluntarily abandoned the lawsuit before the mothers responded, and Matthew Sarelson, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, called the lawsuit “baseless.”Īn attorney for Smith did not respond to a request for comment. In July, Smith countersued for $30 million and accused the plaintiffs’ mothers of conspiring to extort money by making false sexual abuse allegations. YouTube did not immediately return a request for comment. ![]() “I also hope we move the needle on these platforms that are allowing this.” “I want all predators who hurt young kids to be brought to justice,” she said. “I just want peace back with my kids,” said Ashley Anne-Rock Smith, whose two daughters, both plaintiffs, are Rockelle’s cousins and appeared in 94 videos on her channel. The complaint and the mothers say Smith has left their children reeling from trauma. Despite their age, the plaintiffs said they were asked to stage romantic “crushes” on each other, meant to fool young audiences.Īccording to the complaint and former “Squad” members’ mothers, six of whom talked to NBC News, the dynamics of the “Squad” and romantic storylines have led to issues like online bullying and harassment of their children. Children and young teenagers make up the cast of the “Squad,” and their relationships and antics are broadcast to millions of viewers. The plaintiffs were all once a part of 15-year-old Piper Rockelle’s “Piper Squad,” and were featured on her YouTube channel, which has over 10 million subscribers. Instead, the teens are each asking for roughly $2 million in damages, totaling at least $22 million, from Smith and her boyfriend, Hunter Hill, who the complaint identifies as the director and editor of Rockelle’s YouTube channel. YouTube itself doesn’t take responsibility for the offscreen conduct of its creators, and there are surprisingly few regulations around the creation of social media content involving children. Some of the allegations against Smith have repeatedly piqued interest of concerned outsiders, offering a glimpse into the “Wild West” world of YouTube child stardom. In addition, some of the plaintiffs say they weren’t compensated for the use of their likenesses to promote Rockelle’s content, and all of them say they weren’t paid for their work and appearances, though they say they weren’t promised payment. The teen creators allege that they endured physical and emotional injuries from “harassment, molestation, and abuse,” according to the complaint. All of the teen plaintiffs allege in the complaint, filed in January 2022, that Tiffany Smith, the mother of YouTube star Piper Rockelle, intentionally inflicted emotional distress while she held a position of “care and control” over them in the production of content for Rockelle’s YouTube channel.
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