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Georgia’s most famous influencer gets a new Netflix docuseries
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Netflix’s latest docuseries, Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, is an explosive look into Georgia native and child star Piper Rockelle, who is one of the most infamous online personas of her generation.
The series documents Piper and her “squad’s” meteoric rise to fame and the allegations of exploitation and abuse at the hands of her mother, Tiffany Smith. They are originally from Canton, Georgia, but later moved to Los Angeles as Rockelle’s career began to take off.
Georgia pageant queen to YouTube star
Piper Rockelle, born in 2007, began her career in beauty pageants at just 3 years old. Her mother later transitioned her from pageants to social media platforms like Musical.ly (later TikTok) and YouTube.
By the age of 9, Piper had millions of followers, and her content was mostly lighthearted prank videos, dance routines and trending challenges. Her mother curated a tween friend group, known as “The Squad” and this collection of young “kidfluencers” became central to her brand.
The dark side of child influencers
As Piper’s fame grew, so did concerns about the pressures placed on her by her mother and the increasingly toxic environment surrounding her content creation.
Directed by Jenna Rosher and Kief Davidson, Bad Influence looks closely at the unregulated world of child influencers. It focuses on Smith’s momager-style of management and the problematic dynamics that began to develop within The Squad.
The series also delves into troubling allegations made by former Squad members, which include accusations of verbal and sexual misconduct and coercion to sexualize their content, violation of child labor guidelines, and financial theft.
In 2022, these allegations led to a lawsuit against Smith, filed by 11 former members of The Squad. The lawsuit settled for $1.85 million in 2024 without admitting liability, the allegations raised serious questions about the safety and ethics of child influencing.
The larger issue of children on the internet
Bad Influence not only tells Piper Rockelle’s story but also reveals broader issues within the creator economy, especially as it often prioritizes profit over the well-being of its youngest stars. Unlike traditional child actors protected by Coogan Laws, social media has little or no oversight in governing their earnings or working conditions.
Approximately 54-57% of Generation Z aspire to become social media influencers or famous online, according to recent surveys, and it’s because of its ubiquitous presence in their lives, but also because it is an incredibly lucrative endeavor.
According to industry reports conducted by Coherent Market Insights, the creator economy is valued at $34 billion and expected to reach $277 billion by 2032.
Piper Rockelle’s is among the many stories emerging that reveal an ugly side to the online influencing culture. The recent unveiling of the abuse that is often present, like in the Ruby Franke case, has sparked national conversations about the ethics of child influencers.
What do you think about the phenomenon of “TikTok famous” children or the hundreds of creators on YouTube? Has it gone too far?
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with the Macon Telegraph.
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