A years-long lawsuit in which the mother of a popular YouTube star and 11 teenage content creators accused her of abuse and exploitation came to an end on Tuesday when the parties reached a $1.85 million settlement, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers. .
Tiffany Smith was sued in January 2022 by a group of teenagers who regularly appeared on her daughter Piper Rockel’s popular YouTube channel, which at the time had 8.85 million followers.
The creators alleged that Smith, 43, intentionally caused emotional distress to Rockel while he was in a position of “care and control” over the creators of the content they created for his YouTube channel. The suit says they suffered physical and psychological injuries from “harassment, sexual abuse, and abuse.”
Some of the plaintiffs said they were not compensated for the use of their likenesses to promote Rockel’s content, and all claimed they were not compensated for their work or appearances. There was no promise of payment.
In a statement announcing the settlement, plaintiffs’ attorney Matt Sarelson of Dillon Law Group praised the courage of the plaintiffs and called what they went through “grotesque.”
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published in December 2022, Smith said he did not consider himself the plaintiff’s employer at the time the video was shot with Rockel. Smith later received a permit to work with minors, she told the magazine. Mr. Smith countersued last year for $30 million, alleging that the plaintiffs’ mothers conspired to extort money by making false allegations of sexual abuse. She voluntarily abandoned the case before the mothers could respond.
The plaintiffs, all of whom are minors, originally sought damages from Smith and her boyfriend, Hunter Hill, of about $2 million each, or at least $22 million in total. Hunter Hill is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit and is part of the settlement. , according to Dillon Law Group. He was identified as the director and editor of Mr. Rockel’s YouTube channel, according to the complaint.
A spokeswoman for the plaintiff’s law firm said Mr. Smith denied any wrongdoing as part of the terms of the settlement. Lawyers for Mr. Smith and Mr. Hill declined to comment.
In a December 2022 interview with the LA Times, Hill denied the allegations of abuse in the lawsuit, saying that “these kids were making more money than my mom made in a year.” , told the magazine that he couldn’t understand why they were so angry.
Smith also said creators can now earn “hundreds of thousands of dollars” once their channels are monetized.
Eleven young creators appeared on Rockelle’s channel as part of a cast known as the “Piper Squad.” In videos on the Rockelle channel, which currently has 12 million subscribers, creators participated in various pranks and challenges. The plaintiffs said in their lawsuit that despite their age, they were asked to have romantic “crushes” on each other for content purposes.
The claims brought forward by young creators have helped shine a light on the lucrative but largely unregulated world of YouTube stardom for children, which some liken to the Wild West.
Many have publicly called on the industry to introduce regulations to protect child content creators. The Fair Labor Standards Act, a 1938 law that addresses “excessive child labor,” has not been updated to include child influencers. The popular YouTube family channel genre is considered a lucrative business due to ad revenue and brand collaboration opportunities, but has been widely criticized in recent years for relying on children to create monetized content.
Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom, joined by former child star and singer Demi Lovato, signed two bills designed to protect the incomes of child influencers and content creators. Several other states, including the first state, Illinois, have also introduced legislation in hopes of protecting child content creators.
Angela Sharbino, a parent of one of the plaintiffs, said they “didn’t pursue this lawsuit to change the industry, but to bring awareness that there can be predators in any field.” I moved forward,” he said.
“This was never about money. It was about holding individuals accountable, telling the truth, and taking steps toward healing,” she said in a statement. โAll of these kids are now leaving the Squad and finishing this chapter of their lives.โ