Piper Rockelle spoke to Rolling Stone for her first interview since Netflix premiered Bad Influence.
The docuseries centered around allegations made by 11 teen content creators who claimed to have suffered abuse while working with Rockelle’s mom Tiffany Smith. (They previously filed a lawsuit against her, which resulted in a $1.85 million settlement with no admission of liability.)
Rockelle told Rolling Stone that her relationship with her mother remains strong, and the 17-year-old alleged that her former “Squad” members were “stretching the truth” with their claims.
Nearly two months after Netflix’s docuseries premiered, Piper Rockelle has addressed the controversy and allegations put forth in Bad Influence.
The 17-year-old content creator spoke to Rolling Stone for her first interview since the three-part docuseries was released in March. Once again, Rockelle stood by her mom, Tiffany Smith, and shut down questions about abuse accusations made by her ex-collaborators, who filed a complaint against Smith in 2022.
Several of the 11 kids involved in the resulting child abuse lawsuit are featured in Bad Influence. Speaking on camera for the docuseries, the teens recounted stories of the emotional, physical and sometimes sexual abuse they claim to have endured while working with Smith. (The case was settled in October 2024 with no admission of liability, with the 11 teens receiving $1.85 million.)
Rockelle told Rolling Stone that her former “Squad” members are “stretching the truth” about their encounters with her mom and Smith’s boyfriend, Hunter Hill.
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Piper Rockelle/ Instagram
Piper Rockelle poses for a photo in March 2025.
Related: Piper Rockelle Teases She’s Ready to Tell Her ‘Own Story’ After Bad Influence Doc Release
“They’re not making it up, but they’re extending the truth,” she said in the interview published on Thursday, May 1. “I was there. I witnessed every day … I think that they believe what they are saying, but I was there and I saw everything.”
The article noted that she declined to talk about Smith’s use of a fictional persona to make inappropriate comments to the underage creators. She told the outlet, “I can get into that in the future.” When asked if she thinks Smith would ever say sexually suggestive things in the first place, Rockelle said, “I don’t really think I should answer that yet … I think I should wait until I’m old enough to speak about it.”
She also addressed a bombshell claim made about Smith allegedly selling her daughter’s underwear to an unknown recipient. In the documentary, one of the ex-Squad kids said Smith told her she was sending them to men “who liked to smell them,” a claim which Smith completely denied to PEOPLE ahead of the series premiere.
Rockelle reiterated her mother’s statement in the conversation with Rolling Stone, explaining that she “had a brand deal” with the digital thrifting marketplace Poshmark. Rockelle insisted she “never sold any of my underwear.”
Bad Influence concludes with many of the featured kid influencers speaking to Rockelle directly and expressing their hopes that she will break free from her ties to Smith. In her first interview since, Rockelle completely rejected the positive spin on her former friends’ intentions.
Piper Rockelle/Instagram
Piper Rockelle.
Related: Piper Rockelle Teases She’s Ready to Tell Her ‘Own Story’ After Bad Influence Doc Release
“You know where I live. Come get me if you want to save me,” she said to Rolling Stone. “If you want to ‘Save Piper,’ stop talking please. Because by hurting my mother, you’re hurting a part of me.”
She also told the outlet that she worried authorities would get involved and “take away” Smith, which would leave Rockelle without a parent.
“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 in the Rolling Stone feature. “My father was never in my life so it’s always just been her.”
She maintained the authenticity of her close relationship with Smith: “She somehow always has a way of making me feel better and making me feel like everything’s going to be okay,” Rockelle told the outlet.
Read the original article on People
