- YouTube told Insider on Thursday that it suspended monetization on Piper Rockelle’s channel.
- The decision came after Insider sent YouTube questions regarding a list of abuse allegations filed in a lawsuit against Rockelle’s mother, Tiffany Smith.
- YouTube said it also removed the channel from the platform’s Partner Program.
YouTube indefinitely demonetized Piper Rockelle’s channel and removed it from YouTube’s Partner Program on Thursday after Insider emailed the company with a list of allegations against the YouTuber’s mother, Tiffany Smith.
Many of the allegations stemmed from a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County in January by 11 former members of Rockelle’s so-called Piper Squad — a YouTube collective of other teen creators — accusing Smith and her boyfriend, Hunter Hill, of exploitation and abuse.
The suit accused Smith of rubbing one young girl’s “exposed thighs and moving her hand toward her vagina” multiple times, and “attempting to squeeze” her breasts and remarking on their size, among other allegations.
“We have indefinitely suspended monetization on Piper Rockelle’s channel for violating our Creator Responsibility policy by engaging in off-platform behavior that harms the YouTube community and have removed them from the YouTube Partner Program,” a YouTube spokesperson told Insider. “In this case, Piper’s mother Tiffany Smith, who administers the earnings on this channel, is facing multiple allegations of child abuse and exploitation.”
Being demonetized means a creator can no longer run advertisements or generate revenue from their videos.
Piper’s channel, which launched in late 2016, has over 9 million subscribers and 2 billion views. The 14-year-old is known for vlog and prank videos featuring other members of the Piper Squad.
YouTube sleuths have been making videos for years saying Piper needed to be saved from the adults in her life, citing the mature nature of some of her content as evidence that she was being exploited for views.
Last August, the singer Pink called out Piper’s parents on Twitter, saying the teenager was being “exploited” because she posed in a bikini picture on Instagram.
More than a week after the lawsuit was filed, a video was uploaded to Piper’s channel titled,“Saying Goodbye To My Mom.” In the video, Smith said she was leaving to go to Georgia to take care of her family.
Piper and Smith did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.