A lawsuit was filed by nearly a dozen preteen and teenage social media influencers. It seeks millions in damages against their former manager, a mother of a well-known YouTube star, alleging sexual battery, and failure to fully compensate them for their contributions.
The Los Angeles Superior Court complaint was brought Wednesday and names as defendants Tiffany Rockelle Smith, the mother of 14-year old YouTube personality Piper Rockelle; their business Piper Rockelle Inc.; and Hunter Hill, identified in the suit as the 25-year-old live-in boyfriend of the 40- year-old Smith and the primary director, editor and cinematographer of Piper Rockelle’s content for her YouTube channel.
The plaintiffs were never fully compensated for their work, despite the fact that their contributions, including the use of their names, images and likenesses, on Piper’s YouTube channel generated several hundred thousand dollars per month for the defendants, the suit states.
The suit’s allegations include physical and sexual assault, unjust enrichment, sexual battery, civil conspiracy, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of common law right of publicity, intentional interference with contractual relations and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage.
The suit seeks at most $2 million in compensatory damages plus punitive damages.
Smith could not be reached immediately.
“These kids have been taken advantage of financially and in some cases physically and sexually abused,” plaintiffs’ attorney Matthew Sarelson said in a statement. “This lawsuit seeks to remedy the egregious conduct of Piper’s handlers. 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.”
Smith is accused in the suit of inappropriately touching a female plaintiff.
Smith has boasted numerous times to plaintiffs, and others, that she is “the” “Madam of YouTube,”According to the filing.
According to the suit, the plaintiffs decided to focus their efforts on creating their own YouTube channels and collaborating with other people on video content.
City News Service contributed this report.