YouTube child star responds to $22M lawsuit against her mother alleging physical, emotional and sexual abuse
Few internet personalities have caused quite as much chaos this year than 18-year-old Piper Rockelle, as the YouTube child star-turned adult influencer received significant pushback for her career switch.
Rockelle was, like many of her peers, thrust onto YouTube screens from a very early age and she became one of the biggest content creators on the platform, raking in millions of views for each video in the process.
Key to her success as the years went on was the collective power of what became known as the Piper Squad, where she was joined by fellow 'kidfluencers' to create content under the guidance of her mother, Tiffany Smith.
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Most prominent and controversial was the 'crush content' that The Squad filmed, as many saw it as exploiting underage individuals, and this eventually led to a lawsuit from 11 former members towards Smith, claiming $22 million in damages.
The lawsuit alleged that the children suffered emotional, physical, and sexual abuse alongside forced labor, and a $1.85 million settlement was eventually reached — albeit with no admission of wrongdoing from the side of Smith.
Many argue that this was key to Piper's decision to transition into OnlyFans content once she reached the legal minimum age, as not only had YouTube completely demonetized her channel, but she also found herself with a negative reception as a result of allegations against her parents.
Her move into the adult content world was undoubtedly a success, as she earned millions of dollars within the first day alone, yet has had to deal with 'gross haters' criticising her decision.
Now, following an interview with ABC News, Rockelle has finally revealed her own reaction to the lawsuit against her mother, illuminating many on their current relationship.
When asked whether she believes the allegations to be untrue, Rockelle responded:
"I'm never going to discredit anybody, I'm just going to say I have never witnessed anything, and I have never went through that. I was always with my mom and I love my mom and I'm never going to speak for them.
"I wish that they could have been kind enough to never speak for me," Piper continued.
She also notes that she still lives with her mom, explaining that "a lot of people think that this whole entire thing would definitely bring us farther apart, but this whole entire thing has just made me closer to her."
Piper then explained that while she did explore the notion of going into acting or singing, but that OnlyFans proved to be the best choice.
"I'm never going to have a good reputation, I'm never going to have a clean slate, I don't really want a clean state," she illustrated.