What is Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing all about? Everything to know

Netflix's new docuseries Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing is set to premiere on April 9, 2025. The three-part series examines the allegations surrounding Tiffany Smith, the momager for kid influencer Piper Rockelle.

Rockelle was a child influencer, and with the help of her mother, who also acted as her manager, she racked up millions of views and earned millions of dollars from her social media presence. However, people came forward with disturbing allegations about Smith and her treatment of the "squad" of kid influencers around her daughter.

The Netflix docuseries will explore how she portrayed the minors in the videos to earn more views and how she created an unhealthy environment for the kids. However, Smith has denied these allegations.

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What is Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing all about? Release date and plot

The official synopsis of Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, as per Netflix, reads:

"In this eye-opening documentary exposé, teens and parents reveal disturbing accounts of abuse and exploitation within the world of child influencers."

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing is set to debut exclusively on Netflix on April 9, 2025. It can be watched with a subscription to the Netflix platform, which starts at $7.99 / month.

The documentary brings to teens and parents the disturbing reality of "kidfluencing" culture. With accounts of abuse and exploitation in the world of child influencers, the series focuses on the story of YouTuber Piper Rockelle and her friends, who grew up on social media in a seemingly playfully idyllic world.

Collectively known as The Squad, the group staged pranks, dealt with childhood heart throbs and romances, and went around Los Angeles chasing fun and racking up billions of views on the way.

However, every step of Rockelle's success was minutely engineered by her mother, Tiffany Smith, who would invite aspiring child stars to join her daughter in making videos. With time, several members of The Squad and their parents began to realize that something was wrong.

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing is directed by Jenna Rosher and Kief Davidson and produced by Decoy Productions. It investigates in detail allegations against Smith by revealing disturbing stories of exploitation, manipulation, and abuse at the hands of Smith from members of the squad.

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What happened between Tiffany Smith and The Squad?

Piper Rockelle is a 17-year-old actor and influencer who started as a child influencer when she was just eight years old. She rose to online superstardom through her YouTube channel and other social media platforms and was assisted by her mother, Tiffany Smith. Pipper danced, acted, and appeared on scripted and unscripted shows, amassing millions of followers and revenue.

Since 2017, Piper started appearing in her videos with a rotating cast of "friends" who became known as The Squad. Over the years, the squad members included Sophie Fergi, Gavin Magnus, Sawyer Sharbino, Hayden Haas, Corinne Joy, Jentzen Ramirez, Claire RockSmith, and Symonne Harrison, among others.

While the videos they made showed innocent fun, the behind-the-scenes was a different situation. Many parents of The Squad members questioned Tiffany's behavior and tactics, which led Smith to dismiss some of the children from the group.

Eventually, some Squad members began to allege that Tiffany engaged in inappropriate behavior. According to the LA Times, eleven of them filed a lawsuit against her in January 2022, complaining of being "frequently subjected to an emotionally, physically and sometimes sexually abusive environment" perpetrated by Piper’s mom.

However, the lawsuit came to an end in October 2024 after Smith agreed to pay a $1.85 million settlement.

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Watch Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing to know more about the case.