Piper Rockelle and her mom, Tiffany Smith.Photo: Piper Rockelle/Instagram
The mother of 15-year-old YouTube star Piper Rockelle is facing multiple allegations of “harassment, molestation, and abuse” in a trial that starts Monday.
In thecomplaint, 11 teen content creators accuse Rockelle’s mom Tiffany Smith of “emotional, verbal, physical, and at times, sexual abuse.” The plaintiffs worked with Smith and her daughter from 2017-2020 as part of the “Piper Squad” and were part of various storylines that took place on Rockelle’spopular YouTube channel, which boasts more than 10 million subscribers.
Each teen involved in the claim is asking for around $2 million in damages from Smith. Combined the total is more than $22 million.
“I just want peace back with my kids,” Ashley Anne-Rock Smith toldNBC Newsabout the lawsuit. Her two daughters, both plaintiffs, are Rockelle’s cousins. “I want all predators who hurt young kids to be brought to justice,” she added. “I also hope we move the needle on these platforms that are allowing this.”
Piper Rockelle and her mom, Tiffany Smith.Piper Rockelle/Instagram
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YouTube did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“We all love YouTube and it’s a great place, but when somebody is using it as a business and pulling other children in, those people should have to uphold a certain standard,” Steevy Areeco, the mother of another teen creator, told NBC News. “We want there to be protections for the children.”
She is also accused of saying sexually explicit things to the male teens about the size of their penises and in one case, mailing “Piper’s soiled training bras and panties to an unknown individual,” it adds.
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Last summer, Smith countersued for $30 million, saying the mothers of the teenagers were trying to extort her but she abandoned the case shortly afterward, according to NBC News.
Smith and Rockelle didn’t immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the trial.
“This lawsuit seeks to remedy the egregious conduct of Piper’s handlers,“Sarelson said in a statement. “YouTube has created an enormous opportunity to create wealth, but there’s always going to be people gaming the system to harm competitors. Our clients are just kids. They’re good kids with big futures. A part of their childhood, a part of their innocence, has been stolen.”
source: people.com
