Tiffany Smith, the mother of the teen YouTube personality Piper Rockelle, has reached a $1.85 million settlement in the $22 million lawsuit filed against her in January 2022. Allegedly, she s*xually, physically, and emotionally abused 11 of her daughter's co-creators, all of whom were minors when they collaborated on Rockelle's channel.
According to NBC News, Smith, 43, inflicted “harassment, molestation, and abuse,” when she came from a place of “care and control” over the minors. The self-proclaimed "madam" or "pimp" also refused to compensate them for their work on Rockelle's content. However, they did acknowledge that payment was not discussed.
Plaintiff attorney Matt Sarelson says there were "millions of dollars at stake" in the case against Tiffany Smith
Per the New York Post in April 2023, Tiffany Smith made several inappropriate comments about the children's bodies, ones that were “often reprehensible and even illegal.” Plaintiff attorney Matt Sarelson reflected on the whole ordeal at the time, acknowledging how high-stakes it is.
"The videos are of minor children frequently in sexually suggestive attire, positions and scripts. This shouldn’t be occurring at all but there’s millions of dollars at stake. As long as the social media platforms allow it there will be a market.”
The suit reads:
"All told, Plaintiffs’ contributions to Defendants (who have reaped millions of dollars as a direct result of Plaintiffs’ involvement with Piper and her YouTube channel) collectively span thousands of hours of labor and nearly 800 collective appearances in Piper’s 550 videos posted on her YouTube channel."
Per AOL, one of the victims said in a statement that her youth was "stripped away at a very young age because of Tiffany Rockelle." She continued, claiming that the legal actions were “never about money,” but was instead to "make sure she couldn’t do what she did" to the victim "to another kid."
In light of the settlement, Sarelson said that the kids are "smart and brave," and labeled what Tiffany Smith allegedly put them through as "grotesque." Another one of the victims' moms chimed in, noting that the intention behind the lawsuit was not to "change the industry, but to bring awareness that predators can be found in any field." She continued, noting that this was about holding Smith "accountable."
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According to NBC News, the plaintiffs originally called for about $2 million each, bringing the total to $22 million. Then, in July 2023, Tiffany Smith filed a countersuit for $30 million, alleging that all the claims were false and part of a larger scheme to siphon funds off of her. However, she dropped the case not long after of her own accord, before the mothers of the minors got a chance to respond.
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