- - Where Is Piper Rockelle Now? Inside Her Controversial Career Pivot Nearly a Decade After Becoming a Child YouTube Star

Emily Krauser, Jordana ComiterJanuary 15, 2026 at 6:30 AM

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Courtesy of Netflix ; Piper Rockelle/Instagram

Piper Rockelle in 'Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing' ; Piper Rockelle in November 2025. -

Piper Rockelle rose to YouTube fame as a kid with her mom Tiffany Smith and the "Piper Squad"

In 2022, former Squad members sued Tiffany for alleged abuse and unpaid labor, a case that settled in 2024 and was later examined in a Netflix docuseries

A few months after turning 18 in 2025, Piper kicked off 2026 by launching an OnlyFans account

Piper Rockelle is growing up.

At 8 years old, the former child star rose to fame as she and her mom, Tiffany Smith, began posting on YouTube. They were later assisted by Tiffany’s then-boyfriend, Hunter Hill. When she started out, Piper's account was filled with videos of her rotating tween friend group, known as "The Squad" or the "Piper Squad," who built their platform with prank videos, trending challenges and content about their crushes, which drew criticism given the children's young ages.

Years after the group first went viral, Tiffany was accused of abuse by members of the “Piper Squad.” In January 2022, 11 of the teens filed a lawsuit against Tiffany. The complaint alleged that the plaintiffs weren’t compensated for their time collaborating with Piper and that they were subject to "inappropriate, offensive and abusive treatment," including "wildly offensive and sexually explicit comments."

Tiffany publicly denied all allegations and settled the lawsuit in October 2024 for nearly $2 million with all parties specifically disclaiming any liability. In April 2025, Piper and Tiffany's years in content creation were documented in a three-part Netflix docuseries, Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing.

Now, Piper, who turned 18 years old in August 2025, has thrust herself further into the spotlight after making her debut on OnlyFans, the subscription-based platform widely known for adult content. After receiving backlash in the days to follow, she responded to critics in an interview with Rolling Stone saying, "I’m not going to be a kid forever."

So, where is Piper Rockelle now? Here's everything to know about the former child star's life in the years since her mother was accused of abuse.

Who is Piper Rockelle?

Piper Rockelle/ Instagram

Piper Rockelle and her mother Tiffany Smith pose for a photo together in May 2017.

Piper Rockelle was born in Georgia in 2007 to Tiffany Smith. Her birth father reportedly left the family when Tiffany was pregnant and in 2021, a supposed reunion between Piper and her biological father hit over 7 million views on YouTube.

In the first episode of Bad Influence, Tiffany’s younger sister, Patience Rock Smith, described her niece as “an outgoing kid. Just dancing around, singing, smiling.”

“You could just tell she had something special in her,” Patience said of Piper, who began competing in pageants when she was 3. Patience also claimed that Tiffany “loved the attention” and wanted “Piper to be the best.”

The pageant winner then transitioned from the competitions to the lipsyncing app Musical.ly. Later she was cast on the reality TV show Dance Twins, which Tiffany also appeared on. Piper was also cast as Skye on the show Mani at age 10 but left after Tiffany allegedly grew frustrated that another actress received more lines than her daughter, according to the docuseries.

The mother-daughter duo later moved to Los Angeles and Hunter Hill became a main character on Piper's YouTube channel. In their videos, Piper called Hunter her “brother,” but that was a character he played — in reality, he was Tiffany’s boyfriend.

The tween content creator continued to build up her YouTube following, making videos with a group of other influencers who came to be known as the "Piper Squad." She also released songs, including the 2019 single "Treat Myself” and the accompanying video was promoted as including her "first kiss."

In the trailer for Bad Influence, Piper is said to have earned between $300,000 and $500,000 per month at the height of her career, which included brand deals and other income streams. Tiffany, Hunter and Piper all declined to be interviewed for Netflix's Bad Influence.

Who is Piper Rockelle’s mom, Tiffany Smith?

Piper Rockelle/ Instagram

Piper Rockelle with her mom Tiffany Smith in May 2017.

Tiffany Smith is Piper's mom and manager. She raised her daughter in Canton, Ga. while living with her parents and owning a pet grooming business, per the Los Angeles Times.

The mother-daughter duo eventually moved to L.A. where Tiffany focused on being Piper's momager. She then set out to amass a group of other young influencers to join Piper in a content house.

Who was in Piper Rockelle's squad?

Heather Nichole/Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

"The Squad" shown in Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing.

Piper had a group of tween friends she acted in videos with called “The Squad” (also known as the “Piper Squad”). The group included Sophie Fergi, Gavin Magnus, Walker Bryant, Sawyer Sharbino, Hayden Haas, Corinne Joy, Jentzen Ramirez, Raegan Beast, Symonne Harrison and Piper’s cousins, Claire and Reese Rock Smith.

As Piper's YouTube following grew, Tiffany began inviting aspiring child actors to join her daughter on camera reportedly in an attempt to make a kid version of Friends. The kid actors began appearing in videos with Piper around 2017, and their videos skyrocketed the young influencer’s fame and success.

The tweens posted about each other on their social media channels, and some of the members came to live with Tiffany and Piper. Their videos started amassing millions of views and revenue started coming in through advertisements.

Parents of squad members claimed in Bad Influence that they didn’t see any or as much of the money as Piper did, and others alleged they were under contracts with Tiffany and Hunter. Some of the parents claimed that Tiffany controlled what the kids did and said and that Hunter was in charge of editing and posting on their accounts.

What did Piper Rockelle say about the lawsuit against her mother?

Piper Rockelle/ Instagram

Piper Rockelle and her mom Tiffany Smith in November 2017.

In January 2022, 11 teen content creators and their guardians filed a civil complaint against Tiffany, claiming that they were "frequently subjected to an emotionally, physically and sometimes sexually abusive environment perpetrated by Ms. Smith on and off set during filming sessions for Piper’s YouTube channel."

The group often acted in videos in which certain individuals were engineered into “ships," or romantic relationships, by Tiffany, even when their parents reportedly thought they were too young for the content.

Tiffany was also accused of attempting to kiss Raegan and sexually assaulting Sophie, Claire and Reese. The momager and Hunter denied the allegations laid out in the lawsuit and in the summer of 2023, Tiffany countersued for $30 million, per Insider, saying the mothers of the teenagers were trying to extort her. She quickly abandoned the lawsuit.

The lawsuit against Tiffany was settled in October 2024 with a $1.85 million payout that was entered with all parties specifically disclaiming any liability.

In a social media video shared in the docuseries, Piper addressed Squad members leaving the group ahead of the lawsuit. “They always blame it on a toxic, you know, place, environment. It’s really not,” she said in the clip. “We’re all really, really good friends and we have a lot of fun.”

In a statement issued to PEOPLE after the lawsuit was settled, Piper described the "whole experience" as "extremely painful and, honestly, hard to understand."

"Not just because of the people making ridiculous claims about me and my family — but also how the media has been,” she said. "It's become impossible to even look at my phone or do normal, day-to-day things. It's been so incredibly painful. Thank goodness for my family. And thank goodness this is finally behind us."

Like some of the Squad members and their parents, the plaintiffs' lawyer, Matthew Sarelson, expressed concerns about Piper's well-being in the midst of the lawsuit.

In the docuseries, he told some of the moms who sued Tiffany, “There’s a victim in all of this who isn’t represented at this table and may not know she’s a victim. And that’s Piper. Piper has no voice in any of this ... She’s been very restricted in what she can do and who she can interact with.”

He claimed, “The first victim here is Piper."

In a May 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, Piper spoke out for the first time since Bad Influence premiered on Netflix two months earlier, saying that members of the Squad were "extending the truth" when it came to their claims against her mother.

“I was there. I witnessed every day ... I think that they believe what they are saying, but I was there and I saw everything," she said.

Piper went on to say that she was worried authorities could "take away" her mother if the rumors about Tiffany continue.

"That’s something I have to worry about is people coming and trying to take away my mother because they always envied my mom and I’s relationship,” she said, later adding, “She somehow always has a way of making me feel better and making me feel like everything’s going to be okay.”

Are former Squad members still friends with Piper Rockelle?

Courtesy of Netflix© 2025

Sawyer Sharbino in Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing.

Many of the Squad members who left the content house have also expressed concern for Piper.

Claire acknowledged it was difficult to leave her cousin behind, saying in Bad Influence that she was afraid Piper might feel like she “was abandoning her.”

“It was just really hard to leave her, and I still feel bad about it,” she said. “I just want her to know that it’s not her fault. I don’t want her to blame herself for anything, and I still love her, and I still care for her very much.”

Corinne described Piper as “a super sweet girl” and said she wants the best for her. “All of us are here for her and we would help her,” she said. “There’s so much better that she deserves.”

Where is Piper Rockelle now?

Piper Rockelle/ Instagram

Piper Rockelle poses for a photo in March 2025.

Piper is still working as an influencer, regularly posting on TikTok and other social media platforms.

Before the lawsuit, Piper was making between $4.2 million and $7.5 million per year, per the Los Angeles Times. After the allegations against her mother, YouTube allegedly demonetized Piper’s channel, which reportedly lost her business between $300,000 and $500,000 a month, according to court records obtained by the L.A. Times.

She began branching out to other platforms, including Snapchat (her bio says the account is “managed by parent”) and BrandArmy.

In the docuseries, former Squad members note that Piper’s newer content appears more “provocative." In February 2025, she visited Bop House and filmed videos with some of its residents, who are known for primarily making OnlyFans content.

After criticism arose over her involvement in the house as a minor, Piper told PEOPLE in a statement that she was "so grateful for the opportunity to collab with the Bop House creators.”

She spoke again about working with Bop House in an interview with Rolling Stone in May, saying that she "had the best time of my life."

“Why would I not take that opportunity, just because she does something that she’s of age doing, and I won’t be part of?” she said. “I just did TikToks with them, it was great.”

A few months after reaching adulthood in August 2025, Piper kicked off 2026 by sharing the link to her new OnlyFans account. Soon after, Piper claimed she earned close to $3 million in less than 24 hours on the platform. After receiving a slew of online criticism, she told PEOPLE that she "couldn't be more happy with the way that [her] life is going right this second."

Piper told PEOPLE that in addition to the content creation on her other social media platforms, her day-to-day consists of a lot of "chatting" with her subscribers, sending them custom voice notes.

Reflecting on her career pivot, she told PEOPLE that it "wasn't easy," but she "[thrives] off the hate."

"Honestly, I think hate has kept me around for a long, long, long time," she said. "I think, without it, I would have become a little bit irrelevant."

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”