Tiffany Smith, the mother of a 15-year-old YouTube star named Piper Rockelle, is accused of sexually, physically, and emotionally abusing almost a dozen young co-creators of her daughter’s channel.
The civil trial is set to begin on Monday.
According to the complaint filed in January 2022, Smith is accused of harassment, molestation, and abuse.
Smith is allegedly a “mean-spirited control freak” and her interactions with the content creators were not only sexually inappropriate but often illegal.
The plaintiffs, who are all former members of the “Piper Squad” and featured on her daughter’s YouTube channel, are seeking at least $22 million in damages from Smith and her boyfriend, Hunter Hill.
The complaint alleges that Smith made inappropriate remarks about the teenagers’ genitalia and touched the children inappropriately on their legs, thighs, and buttocks.
She also allegedly encouraged the teens to be sexually aggressive during video shoots to make the staged romantic connection look more real.
The pretend romantic crushes that the young creators were supposed to have on each other allegedly caused online bullying.
The plaintiffs claim that they were never compensated by Smith for their likeness, which was used to promote Piper’s content. However, they acknowledged that compensation wasn’t promised beforehand.
When nine of the content creators left “Piper’s Squad,” their own YouTube channels got less clicks and subscribers.
The plaintiffs claimed Smith and her boyfriend falsely flagged their videos as inappropriate or embedded their content on porn sites so it was restricted on YouTube. They missed out on collecting more revenue as a result.
Smith countersued for $30 million in July, claiming the plaintiffs’ mothers were working together to extort money by making up lies about any alleged sexual abuse. However, she dropped the claim shortly after.
Piper Rockelle’s YouTube channel, which has more than 10 million subscribers, was demonetized in February 2022 after Business Insider reached out to YouTube about the numerous allegations against Smith and Hill.
Aiva Arthur
