1 00:00:06,256 --> 00:00:08,675 [upbeat electronic music playing] 2 00:00:08,758 --> 00:00:11,928 I'm inviting my whole entire squad over today. 3 00:00:12,012 --> 00:00:13,930 [all yelling] 4 00:00:14,014 --> 00:00:18,393 [woman] She's a multi-millionaire YouTube star, and she's only 15. 5 00:00:18,476 --> 00:00:20,603 -Three, two, one! -Three, two, one! 6 00:00:21,187 --> 00:00:24,733 There was the Mickey Mouse Club, and now there is The Squad. 7 00:00:24,816 --> 00:00:27,610 There's groups of kids that work together 8 00:00:27,694 --> 00:00:30,989 to build these massive, viral chains of videos. 9 00:00:31,072 --> 00:00:32,574 [Piper] We have the whole squad. 10 00:00:32,657 --> 00:00:34,743 -What's up? I'm Sawyer. -Yo. What's up? I'm Hayden. 11 00:00:34,826 --> 00:00:36,411 -I'm Gavin. -I'm Piper. [giggles] 12 00:00:36,494 --> 00:00:37,954 -I'm Sophie. -I'm Corinne. 13 00:00:38,038 --> 00:00:41,875 We all filmed videos together that were, like, challenges. 14 00:00:41,958 --> 00:00:44,878 They're going to have to chug an entire glass of water 15 00:00:44,961 --> 00:00:46,337 in just seven seconds. 16 00:00:46,421 --> 00:00:49,424 The "last to stop eating" challenge. Yeah! 17 00:00:49,507 --> 00:00:52,260 Kids really seem to, like, like it and enjoy it. 18 00:00:53,553 --> 00:00:56,056 [man 1] Four million views. I wanna put this into perspective. 19 00:00:56,139 --> 00:01:00,727 CNN in one week has 2.2 million views. 20 00:01:00,810 --> 00:01:02,729 She is a superstar online. 21 00:01:02,812 --> 00:01:05,690 Piper Rockelle is an incredibly popular child influencer. 22 00:01:05,774 --> 00:01:08,610 [Piper] Some of you have been watching me since I was eight years old. 23 00:01:08,693 --> 00:01:09,652 -[Sawyer] Yeah. -[laughs] 24 00:01:09,736 --> 00:01:14,616 Piper garnered billions of views and millions of dollars. 25 00:01:14,699 --> 00:01:15,700 Whoo! 26 00:01:15,784 --> 00:01:19,287 [woman 2] Tiffany Smith, Piper's mother, is the momager. 27 00:01:20,163 --> 00:01:22,165 [Tiffany] Get closer to the bars. There we go. 28 00:01:22,665 --> 00:01:27,921 [man 2] She took these kids to massive viral fame. 29 00:01:28,004 --> 00:01:30,131 It seemed fun. 30 00:01:30,215 --> 00:01:32,634 It seemed so innocent. 31 00:01:32,717 --> 00:01:34,886 But… it wasn't innocent at all. 32 00:01:35,470 --> 00:01:37,472 [dramatic string music playing] 33 00:01:43,019 --> 00:01:46,272 [reporter] This young lady's amassed more than ten million followers on YouTube, 34 00:01:46,356 --> 00:01:48,441 shooting silly videos with her friends. 35 00:01:48,525 --> 00:01:52,695 Now some of those now former friends and their parents are suing, 36 00:01:52,779 --> 00:01:54,948 alleging they were exploited. 37 00:01:55,031 --> 00:01:57,742 I wouldn't be surprised if I worked 12 hours, 38 00:01:57,826 --> 00:01:59,828 and then we would go to bed and do it all over again. 39 00:01:59,911 --> 00:02:02,038 [kids yelling] Oh! 40 00:02:02,122 --> 00:02:05,542 Tiffany would often put me in situations where I felt unsafe. 41 00:02:05,625 --> 00:02:07,168 [Sawyer] Closer, closer, closer, closer. 42 00:02:07,252 --> 00:02:09,546 We were definitely directed to do stuff 43 00:02:09,629 --> 00:02:13,550 that isn't really right for an adult to be telling little kids to do. 44 00:02:13,633 --> 00:02:16,302 Basically, I have a job, and I am a kid. 45 00:02:16,928 --> 00:02:19,931 It didn't really actually occur to me that there could be dangers. 46 00:02:20,014 --> 00:02:21,391 [Tiffany] Flirt with the camera. 47 00:02:21,474 --> 00:02:25,937 This is where predators go to see content of children. 48 00:02:26,020 --> 00:02:26,896 [Tiffany] Calm down. 49 00:02:26,980 --> 00:02:29,858 They make it seem like it's this fun, happy house, 50 00:02:29,941 --> 00:02:31,860 when it's really a house of horror. 51 00:02:31,943 --> 00:02:34,320 [sobbing] I can't! I can't! I can't! I can't! 52 00:02:34,404 --> 00:02:36,531 [woman 3] Tiffany yelled and screamed at everybody. 53 00:02:36,614 --> 00:02:38,324 It was a very cult-like atmosphere. 54 00:02:38,992 --> 00:02:41,870 Tiffany was a complete monster. 55 00:02:41,953 --> 00:02:43,872 [Tiffany] You are a disrespectful little bitch. 56 00:02:43,955 --> 00:02:47,542 Tiffany took our innocence and just destroyed it. 57 00:02:47,625 --> 00:02:49,210 [intriguing electronic music playing] 58 00:02:55,300 --> 00:02:57,302 [bubbling] 59 00:02:57,385 --> 00:02:59,387 [rising whir] 60 00:02:59,888 --> 00:03:01,347 [ethereal whirring] 61 00:03:05,226 --> 00:03:06,227 [music fades] 62 00:03:15,028 --> 00:03:19,073 I have my cousin Claire with me today that has a birthday cake. 63 00:03:19,157 --> 00:03:21,242 Hi! Uh, Frank told me to bring this in. 64 00:03:21,326 --> 00:03:24,454 -I don't know what it's for, but-- -[man] Where is… Did you eat some of it? 65 00:03:24,537 --> 00:03:26,414 -[Claire] No. -[women laugh] 66 00:03:26,497 --> 00:03:28,917 It does make me laugh when Frank comes on the screen. 67 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:29,876 Frank was hilarious. 68 00:03:29,959 --> 00:03:31,920 [Frank] And then, guys, what would you rather like, 69 00:03:32,003 --> 00:03:34,380 an 11-year-old girl or a cute little pug? 70 00:03:34,464 --> 00:03:37,050 A cute little 11-year-old girl with a pug. 71 00:03:37,133 --> 00:03:38,760 -[women chuckle] -Okay. 72 00:03:38,843 --> 00:03:41,221 Dude, that was my first ever video that I was with everybody. 73 00:03:41,304 --> 00:03:42,764 So I was, like, so excited. 74 00:03:43,348 --> 00:03:45,808 You know, this was never… It was good and fun. 75 00:03:45,892 --> 00:03:47,894 And we just had fun filming them. 76 00:03:47,977 --> 00:03:49,896 [girl] Piper was somebody that I looked up to. 77 00:03:49,979 --> 00:03:51,231 She was our cousin. 78 00:03:51,314 --> 00:03:55,109 And I wanted to do, like, YouTube videos and stuff like that. 79 00:03:56,819 --> 00:03:59,239 The thing that I just miss the most is Piper. 80 00:03:59,322 --> 00:04:02,283 It's just really sad that she's not in my life at the moment. 81 00:04:02,367 --> 00:04:03,368 [woman 1] Mm… 82 00:04:03,451 --> 00:04:05,328 [woman 2] I see your smiles when you're with her. 83 00:04:05,411 --> 00:04:08,498 And you two act so silly. I miss seeing that. 84 00:04:08,581 --> 00:04:09,415 Yeah. 85 00:04:09,916 --> 00:04:11,376 [gentle music playing] 86 00:04:14,254 --> 00:04:17,674 [woman 1] Tiffany is my older sister, and Piper is my niece. 87 00:04:17,757 --> 00:04:19,759 We grew up in Canton, Georgia. 88 00:04:21,010 --> 00:04:23,429 When Piper was born, Tiffany was 26 years old. 89 00:04:24,013 --> 00:04:26,307 Piper's dad left Tiffany when she was pregnant. 90 00:04:26,391 --> 00:04:27,934 [plonking] 91 00:04:28,017 --> 00:04:32,230 Tiffany lived at home with my parents. She started her business, pet grooming. 92 00:04:32,313 --> 00:04:33,147 [plonk] 93 00:04:33,231 --> 00:04:36,651 And she raised Piper by herself, without Piper's dad. 94 00:04:37,485 --> 00:04:41,447 When she was super young, Piper was just an outgoing kid. 95 00:04:41,948 --> 00:04:44,867 Just dancing around, singing, smiling. 96 00:04:45,451 --> 00:04:48,496 Um… you could just tell she had something special in her. 97 00:04:48,579 --> 00:04:50,290 [rhythmic electronic music playing] 98 00:04:53,626 --> 00:04:57,130 Piper was probably three years old when she started pageants. 99 00:04:57,213 --> 00:04:58,423 [faint applause echoes] 100 00:04:58,506 --> 00:05:02,677 She won her first one at three, and it was for Fourth of July. 101 00:05:03,261 --> 00:05:05,388 -Her room is full of trophies. -Yeah. 102 00:05:05,471 --> 00:05:08,057 She was great. Like, perfect. 103 00:05:08,975 --> 00:05:12,103 I think Tiffany's drive for Piper's success 104 00:05:12,186 --> 00:05:16,607 was to show Piper's dad that she was worth something 105 00:05:16,691 --> 00:05:18,818 and that he's missing out on her life. 106 00:05:20,361 --> 00:05:24,324 Piper was definitely doing the bikinis, the spray tan, the hair. 107 00:05:25,450 --> 00:05:30,371 She practiced and learned all the dance moves. 108 00:05:31,664 --> 00:05:34,625 Piper loved the attention, people clapping for her, 109 00:05:35,126 --> 00:05:36,294 the trophies. 110 00:05:37,337 --> 00:05:40,048 Tiffany definitely wanted Piper to be the best. 111 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:43,051 Tiffany was not happy with second place. 112 00:05:44,135 --> 00:05:48,639 When Tiffany began to see Piper become successful in pageants, 113 00:05:48,723 --> 00:05:51,642 she wanted to go ahead and see what she can do on social media. 114 00:05:51,726 --> 00:05:52,560 [music ends] 115 00:05:53,227 --> 00:05:54,979 [woman] And this is the YSBnow podcast. 116 00:05:55,063 --> 00:05:57,690 And we have a very special guest here today. 117 00:05:57,774 --> 00:05:59,025 [Piper] Piper Rockelle. 118 00:05:59,108 --> 00:06:00,526 [woman] When did you start saying, 119 00:06:00,610 --> 00:06:03,905 "Oh, it would be fun to kind of start posting my life on social media"? 120 00:06:03,988 --> 00:06:05,656 [Piper] When I kinda got done with pageants, 121 00:06:05,740 --> 00:06:07,367 there was this app, Musical.ly. 122 00:06:07,450 --> 00:06:11,412 I started on there, and then that's when stuff kind of, like, started to happen, 123 00:06:11,496 --> 00:06:14,749 and people started to, like, become my friends, I guess. 124 00:06:14,832 --> 00:06:18,336 ♪ They'll say you could do anything They'll say that I was clever ♪ 125 00:06:18,419 --> 00:06:21,798 Musicsal.ly was created around 2014, and it was a lip sync app. 126 00:06:21,881 --> 00:06:24,801 Oh, it's a potato. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. 127 00:06:24,884 --> 00:06:26,844 [Taylor] You could create these short, funny videos 128 00:06:26,928 --> 00:06:29,180 where you were essentially lip-syncing to a sound. 129 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,141 This was so popular with children. 130 00:06:32,767 --> 00:06:34,519 You're supposed to be 13 to use it, 131 00:06:34,602 --> 00:06:38,022 but kids as young as six, seven, eight were really addicted to it. 132 00:06:38,606 --> 00:06:41,651 And I would say, it's their parents posting content. 133 00:06:41,734 --> 00:06:43,194 Musical.ly eventually became TikTok, 134 00:06:43,277 --> 00:06:45,196 one of the most successful apps of all time. 135 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:47,156 Ouch, Charlie! 136 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:49,033 Ow! [whimpers] 137 00:06:49,117 --> 00:06:51,702 [Taylor] In 2007, you had "Charlie Bit My Finger," 138 00:06:51,786 --> 00:06:54,247 an early YouTube video that really took off. 139 00:06:54,747 --> 00:06:57,083 That's when you started to see the ascendance 140 00:06:57,166 --> 00:06:59,252 of these early social platforms. 141 00:06:59,335 --> 00:07:02,130 You started to see more people hop on there, talk about their lives, 142 00:07:02,213 --> 00:07:05,258 and kind of start uploading intentionally for small audiences. 143 00:07:05,341 --> 00:07:06,634 Hi, Mommy! 144 00:07:06,717 --> 00:07:09,470 [mom] Okay, what do you want today? What toy do you want today? What is… 145 00:07:09,554 --> 00:07:12,932 [Taylor] By 2011, YouTube had millions and millions of users. 146 00:07:13,015 --> 00:07:14,392 -[Ryan] This one! -[mom] That one? 147 00:07:14,475 --> 00:07:15,560 -[Ryan] Uh-huh. -[mom] Oh. 148 00:07:15,643 --> 00:07:19,397 [Taylor] And some of the earliest viral stars were actually children. 149 00:07:19,897 --> 00:07:23,776 [Piper] I would always watch those little unboxing videos of, like, toys and stuff. 150 00:07:23,860 --> 00:07:26,863 And I was like, "Mom, I wanna do this." 151 00:07:26,946 --> 00:07:29,073 Hey, guys, it's Piper Rockelle. 152 00:07:29,157 --> 00:07:32,618 Today we are going to be making fluffy slime. 153 00:07:32,702 --> 00:07:36,747 You would have to get Elmer's Glue, school glue. If you give… 154 00:07:36,831 --> 00:07:39,584 [Patience] You can just look at Piper's fluffy slime video, 155 00:07:39,667 --> 00:07:41,919 which is completely different from the pageant world, 156 00:07:42,420 --> 00:07:45,339 and you can see how comfortable she is in front of the camera. 157 00:07:45,423 --> 00:07:47,800 -She's just a natural. -[melodic music continues] 158 00:07:47,884 --> 00:07:50,761 Tiffany was constantly filming something. 159 00:07:51,262 --> 00:07:53,890 It was part of the… the routine of what they were doing. 160 00:07:56,225 --> 00:07:58,060 [man] The way that Tiffany was able 161 00:07:58,144 --> 00:08:01,022 to utilize these new media platforms was brilliant. 162 00:08:01,522 --> 00:08:03,149 -[music fades] -Social media is everything. 163 00:08:03,232 --> 00:08:05,902 You can build a brand on there, you can make friends on there, 164 00:08:05,985 --> 00:08:07,987 and you can really connect with anybody globally. 165 00:08:08,070 --> 00:08:08,946 [tape whizzing] 166 00:08:09,030 --> 00:08:10,907 Tiffany saw an opportunity for her daughter, 167 00:08:10,990 --> 00:08:13,743 and she wanted to give her daughter an opportunity. 168 00:08:14,494 --> 00:08:17,538 [Taylor] At the same time that you had Internet fame taking off, 169 00:08:17,622 --> 00:08:20,750 you also had television and traditional fame changing, 170 00:08:20,833 --> 00:08:26,005 where, suddenly, real-life people were being cast on these reality shows. 171 00:08:27,215 --> 00:08:29,425 And Piper has, what I would consider, her big break. 172 00:08:29,509 --> 00:08:33,804 She gets cast on Dance Twins, which is a popular reality show. 173 00:08:33,888 --> 00:08:39,268 Hi, I'm Tiffany. And this is my beautiful daughter, Piper. 174 00:08:39,852 --> 00:08:42,522 She's the fun mom. Like, every kid wants to hang out with her. 175 00:08:43,105 --> 00:08:45,483 [Taylor] You also see Tiffany for the first time 176 00:08:45,566 --> 00:08:48,444 and really get a peek behind her parenting style. 177 00:08:48,528 --> 00:08:52,073 You can see that Tiffany is pushing Piper. 178 00:08:52,156 --> 00:08:56,327 This is, like, a really good time for you to get first place. 179 00:08:56,410 --> 00:08:57,870 -Okay. -I would like that. 180 00:08:57,954 --> 00:08:58,996 -[Tiffany] You know? -Yeah. 181 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,083 From a young age, Piper wanted to please her mother, 182 00:09:02,166 --> 00:09:05,336 making sure that she's constantly striving to be the best, 183 00:09:05,419 --> 00:09:08,714 that she was the top performer in the South. 184 00:09:08,798 --> 00:09:10,383 [gentle music playing] 185 00:09:10,466 --> 00:09:13,469 -But Piper was not in school. -[mouse clicking] 186 00:09:13,553 --> 00:09:16,347 When Piper was eight or so, Ashley said to Tiffany, 187 00:09:16,430 --> 00:09:18,474 "You really need to get her in some kind of school." 188 00:09:18,558 --> 00:09:20,935 You know, "It's… it's her right to be able to learn." 189 00:09:21,018 --> 00:09:22,520 And that was a big fight. 190 00:09:22,603 --> 00:09:26,482 Her main focus was on Piper advancing socially. 191 00:09:26,566 --> 00:09:29,193 She could excel in performing 192 00:09:29,277 --> 00:09:32,113 and hold a conversation with an adult, 193 00:09:32,196 --> 00:09:33,739 go out and do these auditions. 194 00:09:34,323 --> 00:09:36,534 I didn't understand it, but, you know, I supported them 195 00:09:36,617 --> 00:09:38,411 in whatever they wanted to do. 196 00:09:40,663 --> 00:09:41,539 [music fades] 197 00:09:41,622 --> 00:09:43,207 It was the year 2017, 198 00:09:43,291 --> 00:09:47,253 and my daughter, Corinne, and I got an invitation from a friend 199 00:09:47,336 --> 00:09:52,675 to go and audition to be a backup dancer for a girl named Piper Rockelle. 200 00:09:52,758 --> 00:09:54,135 [soft electronic music playing] 201 00:09:54,218 --> 00:09:58,514 [girl] My friend told me that Piper was crowned on Musical.ly. 202 00:09:58,598 --> 00:10:00,766 It was so hard to get crowned on Musical.ly. 203 00:10:00,850 --> 00:10:03,394 So I was like, "Oh my gosh." Like, "Okay, cool." 204 00:10:03,477 --> 00:10:04,645 [music continues] 205 00:10:04,729 --> 00:10:06,939 [Steevy] Corinne was very interested 206 00:10:07,023 --> 00:10:09,567 in acting, singing, dancing, all that stuff. 207 00:10:09,650 --> 00:10:10,526 [faint cheering] 208 00:10:10,610 --> 00:10:13,863 We were trying to do some more dancing gigs, 209 00:10:13,946 --> 00:10:17,241 so we took off school, and we went to audition. 210 00:10:17,825 --> 00:10:19,452 When we walked in, there was a camera crew, 211 00:10:19,535 --> 00:10:21,162 and it was for a show called Dance Twins. 212 00:10:21,245 --> 00:10:22,955 [faint cheering, whistling] 213 00:10:23,039 --> 00:10:24,707 [Corinne] Piper was really sweet. 214 00:10:25,207 --> 00:10:26,334 We clicked. 215 00:10:26,417 --> 00:10:28,961 We were talking to each other the whole time during the audition. 216 00:10:30,171 --> 00:10:33,549 [Steevy] After filming that day, we realized that we both lived in Georgia, 217 00:10:33,633 --> 00:10:35,635 20 minutes away from each other. 218 00:10:35,718 --> 00:10:38,679 So, of course, the girls are like, "We wanna get together." 219 00:10:38,763 --> 00:10:40,931 "We wanna do more things together." 220 00:10:41,891 --> 00:10:45,061 Me and Tiffany kind of bonded over, you know, "Our kids wanna do this, 221 00:10:45,144 --> 00:10:46,604 so we're gonna help them." 222 00:10:46,687 --> 00:10:49,690 Tiffany told me that she was really interested in doing YouTube 223 00:10:49,774 --> 00:10:52,610 because she'd seen all these new families come along 224 00:10:52,693 --> 00:10:56,030 and were really, you know, taking off kind of doing social media. 225 00:10:56,530 --> 00:10:57,907 [man 1 bleating] 226 00:10:57,990 --> 00:10:59,450 [bleats] 227 00:10:59,533 --> 00:11:02,203 -[bleats] -That means "I love you" in goat. 228 00:11:02,286 --> 00:11:05,164 [man 2] Hey, can you clean up your, uh… your toy room here, please? 229 00:11:05,956 --> 00:11:07,541 -[in singsong] Clean up. -[mouse clicks] 230 00:11:07,625 --> 00:11:09,460 [man 3] Let me see it. Okay, there's Everleigh. 231 00:11:09,543 --> 00:11:12,463 -[woman] Is that yours, sweetie? -[man 3] Oh my word! Okay, Ava. Your turn. 232 00:11:12,546 --> 00:11:14,298 [Steevy] Tiffany said to me, 233 00:11:14,382 --> 00:11:17,218 "We could totally do that. Like, this could be really good." 234 00:11:17,968 --> 00:11:22,098 I had never filmed a video before, so I was like, "Seems cool." 235 00:11:23,349 --> 00:11:26,102 Tiffany seemed like she was very in touch… 236 00:11:26,185 --> 00:11:27,895 -[camera snaps] -…with social media. 237 00:11:28,396 --> 00:11:31,899 [Tiffany in southern accent] Corinne! Yeehaw, girl! Piper! 238 00:11:31,982 --> 00:11:33,484 -Yeehaw, girl! -[Tiffany] Yeehaw! 239 00:11:33,567 --> 00:11:36,153 -[Steevy] Tiffany put it up on YouTube. -[Tiffany] Woo-hoo! 240 00:11:36,237 --> 00:11:38,531 [Steevy] And she texted me. She was like, "Do you see this?" 241 00:11:38,614 --> 00:11:39,949 "It's at 20,000 views." 242 00:11:40,032 --> 00:11:41,951 And I was like, "Wow. That's cool." 243 00:11:42,034 --> 00:11:44,453 You-- Cool? [chuckles] I don't know. 244 00:11:44,537 --> 00:11:47,373 And she was like, "Now it's at 40. Now it's at 70." 245 00:11:48,082 --> 00:11:52,128 [Corinne] That video got, like, over a million views. 246 00:11:52,837 --> 00:11:56,507 I had never gotten this type of, like, attention on social media before. 247 00:11:56,590 --> 00:11:57,466 [plinking] 248 00:11:57,550 --> 00:11:58,759 I was excited. 249 00:11:58,843 --> 00:12:00,594 [upbeat, melodic music playing] 250 00:12:01,178 --> 00:12:05,516 [Steevy] After that, we just continued. And the videos did really well. 251 00:12:09,854 --> 00:12:10,938 [Taylor] After Dance Twins, 252 00:12:11,021 --> 00:12:13,941 Piper really starts to explode on social media. 253 00:12:14,024 --> 00:12:15,067 People start following her. 254 00:12:15,151 --> 00:12:17,403 They start getting more interested in her life. 255 00:12:17,486 --> 00:12:20,322 And so in 2017, she moves to LA. 256 00:12:21,115 --> 00:12:22,825 [Piper] Stop. [chuckles] 257 00:12:22,908 --> 00:12:24,535 So we're going to LA right now. 258 00:12:24,618 --> 00:12:26,871 -Okay, just-- -[Tiffany] We're heading to the airport. 259 00:12:27,371 --> 00:12:29,665 -Well, yeah. We're heading to the airport. -[cat meows] 260 00:12:29,749 --> 00:12:31,542 -[meows] -What are you trying to do, Thirteen? 261 00:12:31,625 --> 00:12:34,712 -[Piper laughs] -You wanna go out into oncoming traffic? 262 00:12:34,795 --> 00:12:35,796 [meows] 263 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,633 Tiffany and Piper grabbed their things and a couple of their cats 264 00:12:39,717 --> 00:12:43,262 and went to LA to pursue something bigger. 265 00:12:43,345 --> 00:12:45,765 [in singsong] Los Angeles, I'm coming for you. 266 00:12:46,849 --> 00:12:51,020 [Taylor] The entire "kidfluencer" space is centered around Los Angeles. 267 00:12:51,103 --> 00:12:53,481 It is where all of the talent managers are, 268 00:12:53,564 --> 00:12:54,982 all the big agencies. 269 00:12:55,065 --> 00:12:58,527 Tiffany wanted success for her daughter. 270 00:12:59,028 --> 00:13:01,530 And so she's launched Piper's YouTube channel, 271 00:13:02,156 --> 00:13:04,825 developing a brand, becoming a personality online. 272 00:13:05,326 --> 00:13:08,788 Hey, guys. It's me and Hunter, my brother. 273 00:13:09,371 --> 00:13:12,833 [Patience] Hunter and Tiffany and Piper met at a conference in LA 274 00:13:12,917 --> 00:13:15,211 when Hunter came down from Wyoming. 275 00:13:17,588 --> 00:13:21,008 [Ashley] Hunter became a character on Piper's channel. 276 00:13:21,091 --> 00:13:22,551 He was posed as her brother. 277 00:13:23,052 --> 00:13:25,429 Very interesting to us, as the family members, 278 00:13:25,513 --> 00:13:27,223 because we're thinking, "What?" 279 00:13:27,306 --> 00:13:29,475 What's up, guys? It's your boy, Raegan Beast, here with… 280 00:13:29,558 --> 00:13:31,227 [high-pitched] …Hunter! [voice breaks] 281 00:13:31,310 --> 00:13:33,646 I met Hunter after doing some videos 282 00:13:33,729 --> 00:13:36,190 and going over to Piper's place to just do collabs and such. 283 00:13:36,273 --> 00:13:39,318 He was doing a lot of camera work. And he was their editor. 284 00:13:39,401 --> 00:13:41,362 -Slurpees! -[music plays on radio] 285 00:13:41,445 --> 00:13:46,408 [Raegan] Me being trans, I haven't had a lot of guy friends that aren't trans. 286 00:13:46,492 --> 00:13:50,079 Hunter was like an older brother. He made me feel safe. He was there for me. 287 00:13:50,162 --> 00:13:51,747 -Ah! -Ah! 288 00:13:51,831 --> 00:13:53,749 -Oh, holy ****! -[Hunter chuckles] 289 00:13:53,833 --> 00:13:56,710 [Raegan] There were jokes made by Hunter to me about, 290 00:13:57,628 --> 00:13:59,964 "Yeah, I get with Tiffany sometimes." 291 00:14:00,047 --> 00:14:01,799 I think you're pretty! 292 00:14:01,882 --> 00:14:04,635 [Raegan] It wasn't until after knowing Hunter, 293 00:14:04,718 --> 00:14:06,720 he was like, "Yeah, I'm Piper's brother on YouTube." 294 00:14:06,804 --> 00:14:09,932 "On YouTube, we're… we're siblings, but not biologically." 295 00:14:10,432 --> 00:14:11,892 [Hunter] Big brother always wins! 296 00:14:11,976 --> 00:14:14,103 He was Piper's brother off-camera as well. 297 00:14:14,186 --> 00:14:16,814 Like, he really was this, like, guy that was there for Piper 298 00:14:16,897 --> 00:14:20,025 in this childish way, not in a stepfather way. 299 00:14:20,109 --> 00:14:23,195 But then, I think, secretly doing stuff with Tiffany. 300 00:14:23,279 --> 00:14:24,405 [disquieting music playing] 301 00:14:24,488 --> 00:14:28,450 I was like, "Does Piper know that you have this relationship with her mom?" 302 00:14:30,119 --> 00:14:35,124 Hunter was Tiffany's very much younger boyfriend. 303 00:14:35,916 --> 00:14:37,793 -[music fades] -Hey, guys! So we're back home. 304 00:14:37,877 --> 00:14:41,714 I look like the Grinch right now. So does Pipes. So does Tiff. 305 00:14:41,797 --> 00:14:43,632 [Patience] He was 19 or 20. 306 00:14:43,716 --> 00:14:45,259 -And he moved in. -[cat meows] 307 00:14:45,926 --> 00:14:48,053 [Ashley] And they were all just creating content. 308 00:14:48,554 --> 00:14:50,890 A lot of you guys requested my night routine 309 00:14:50,973 --> 00:14:54,518 'cause I already did a morning routine, so you're gonna know all my routines. 310 00:14:54,602 --> 00:14:57,897 [Patience] Piper's personality was built to do social media. 311 00:14:57,980 --> 00:15:03,444 She could act in such a way and… and make it seem so real. 312 00:15:03,527 --> 00:15:05,237 -[water running] -[bright music playing] 313 00:15:05,321 --> 00:15:08,657 [Brandon] Piper was cuter than a button. Everyone loved her. 314 00:15:08,741 --> 00:15:15,080 She had a way to draw people in that just felt so authentic. 315 00:15:15,164 --> 00:15:16,040 [inaudible] 316 00:15:16,123 --> 00:15:18,792 [Brandon] Tiffany built a very viable brand 317 00:15:18,876 --> 00:15:22,630 on normalcy from a kid's point of view. 318 00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:27,509 The more and more relevant Piper's brand became, 319 00:15:28,177 --> 00:15:31,889 Tiffany found an opportunity to make it bigger. 320 00:15:31,972 --> 00:15:33,766 -[music fades] -Whatcha doin'? 321 00:15:33,849 --> 00:15:34,934 [man] Making a sandwich. 322 00:15:35,434 --> 00:15:37,394 So, um, what kind of sleepover is this? 323 00:15:37,478 --> 00:15:39,229 Just a typical sleepover. 324 00:15:39,313 --> 00:15:42,066 -[quirky, rhythmic music playing] -You won't even hear us. 325 00:15:42,149 --> 00:15:47,237 [Taylor] Piper very quickly lands a spot on the show Mani, produced by Brat. 326 00:15:47,321 --> 00:15:50,074 Brat is essentially the Disney Channel for the Internet. 327 00:15:50,157 --> 00:15:53,994 They've had really popular shows. Mani was a breakout hit on YouTube. 328 00:15:54,078 --> 00:15:55,913 Where do you think you're going? 329 00:15:55,996 --> 00:15:58,582 All nannies participate in the makeup hour. 330 00:15:58,666 --> 00:16:00,542 Well, this manny not. Mani don't do that. 331 00:16:00,626 --> 00:16:04,338 [Sophie] Mani was about this nanny who was a man. 332 00:16:04,421 --> 00:16:07,883 And Piper played a character named Skye on the show. 333 00:16:07,967 --> 00:16:10,552 And she was the preppy, rich kid. 334 00:16:10,636 --> 00:16:13,430 Welcome to Skye's four-step guide to popularity. 335 00:16:13,514 --> 00:16:16,308 Step one, rid yourself from all bad vibes. 336 00:16:16,392 --> 00:16:19,103 [Sophie] I played the gothic, emo girl. 337 00:16:19,186 --> 00:16:22,982 Anything that goth girl did, Piper would do the opposite. 338 00:16:23,065 --> 00:16:24,149 [bright music playing] 339 00:16:24,233 --> 00:16:27,069 I had no idea who Piper was, like, at all. 340 00:16:27,152 --> 00:16:28,904 I didn't know she had a social media presence. 341 00:16:29,863 --> 00:16:33,158 [woman] Sophie didn't even have an Instagram account when she joined Mani. 342 00:16:33,659 --> 00:16:36,787 They all insisted she needed one if she was on this Brat show 343 00:16:36,870 --> 00:16:40,582 'cause everyone on the Brat platform was pretty big on social media. 344 00:16:40,666 --> 00:16:41,500 [plonk] 345 00:16:41,583 --> 00:16:45,587 Sophie got her first job on the show Mani as a background actor. 346 00:16:45,671 --> 00:16:48,382 They liked her character so much that it took off. 347 00:16:48,465 --> 00:16:51,010 I wore black to disappear. 348 00:16:51,093 --> 00:16:54,013 [Sophie] We met Piper and Tiffany on set. 349 00:16:54,096 --> 00:16:56,682 And then after that, I, like, talked to Piper a lot. 350 00:16:57,307 --> 00:17:00,936 From there, Tiffany and Piper asked me to be in a YouTube video. 351 00:17:01,020 --> 00:17:02,813 And it was the Freaky Friday video. 352 00:17:02,896 --> 00:17:07,192 Piper Rockelle's character, Skye, switches characters with Goth Girl. 353 00:17:07,276 --> 00:17:09,695 That was my first experience of getting to know them. 354 00:17:09,778 --> 00:17:11,572 [gasps, giggles] 355 00:17:12,197 --> 00:17:15,367 [Heather] Tiffany would always invite Sophie for, like, a sleepover, 356 00:17:15,451 --> 00:17:16,910 and then they would do a video. 357 00:17:16,994 --> 00:17:18,287 [Piper] What time is it? 358 00:17:18,370 --> 00:17:20,748 [in singsong] It is 11:10. Woo-woo! 359 00:17:20,831 --> 00:17:22,124 So it's getting a little late. 360 00:17:22,708 --> 00:17:26,086 [Heather] At that point, I didn't know anything about YouTube. 361 00:17:26,170 --> 00:17:28,797 I just thought they were kids filming videos. 362 00:17:30,507 --> 00:17:32,885 Piper and Sophie hit it off instantly. 363 00:17:32,968 --> 00:17:34,595 [bright music continues] 364 00:17:35,721 --> 00:17:37,473 [Sophie] We really connected. 365 00:17:38,140 --> 00:17:40,476 We started to grow closer on set. 366 00:17:41,101 --> 00:17:44,897 That's where we connected and found, like, a lot of similarities. 367 00:17:46,231 --> 00:17:47,983 I felt like no one understood me. 368 00:17:48,067 --> 00:17:49,610 And I feel like she was the only one 369 00:17:49,693 --> 00:17:52,738 who actually, like, put effort in actually trying to get to know me. 370 00:17:53,864 --> 00:17:57,451 Anything that I was feeling, we would just talk about. 371 00:17:58,869 --> 00:18:00,704 [Piper] We became best friends. 372 00:18:01,205 --> 00:18:03,665 I've never really had a best friend before. 373 00:18:04,708 --> 00:18:07,419 -We literally are like sisters right now. -[mouse clicks] 374 00:18:07,503 --> 00:18:08,462 [music continues] 375 00:18:10,631 --> 00:18:11,507 [music fades] 376 00:18:11,590 --> 00:18:13,634 [man] Ready? This is, like, the last shot of the day. 377 00:18:13,717 --> 00:18:15,969 [Sophie] We both did Mani for a while. 378 00:18:16,053 --> 00:18:19,848 And then there was the camp season. 379 00:18:19,932 --> 00:18:22,392 And that's when Tiffany was essentially mad 380 00:18:22,476 --> 00:18:25,521 that another character had gotten more lines than Piper. 381 00:18:25,604 --> 00:18:26,939 [disquieting music playing] 382 00:18:27,022 --> 00:18:28,398 Tiffany came to set. 383 00:18:28,982 --> 00:18:30,943 She pulled Piper off the set. 384 00:18:31,026 --> 00:18:33,195 And she was screaming all about the place. 385 00:18:33,987 --> 00:18:36,365 "You're not gonna cut my daughter from the show." 386 00:18:36,448 --> 00:18:40,077 "She created this show. She was the beginning of this." 387 00:18:41,578 --> 00:18:43,455 She was like, "Sophie, you need to come with us." 388 00:18:43,539 --> 00:18:45,415 And I was like, "I'm not gonna come with you." 389 00:18:45,499 --> 00:18:48,627 "That's not what I'm gonna do 'cause I'm being professional on a set 390 00:18:49,211 --> 00:18:51,213 'cause I don't believe in burning bridges." 391 00:18:51,713 --> 00:18:53,799 It started to get stressful. 392 00:18:53,882 --> 00:18:58,053 Tiffany was upset. She just was barely talking to me. 393 00:18:59,138 --> 00:19:01,515 She dragged her off set. 394 00:19:02,182 --> 00:19:04,143 The producers ran after her. 395 00:19:04,935 --> 00:19:06,979 They, I think, stopped them at a gas station. 396 00:19:07,062 --> 00:19:08,647 She did not come back at all. 397 00:19:09,815 --> 00:19:13,068 I stayed filming. And it took a toll on our friendship. 398 00:19:13,152 --> 00:19:15,779 So Piper and I essentially stopped being friends. 399 00:19:17,739 --> 00:19:19,658 I realized Tiffany was unstable 400 00:19:20,325 --> 00:19:23,495 and that you had to be careful in what you were doing around her. 401 00:19:24,913 --> 00:19:28,792 I never, like, expressed that to anyone. I just kind of kept that to myself. 402 00:19:28,876 --> 00:19:29,793 [music fades] 403 00:19:31,003 --> 00:19:32,171 [birds chirping] 404 00:19:33,088 --> 00:19:35,424 When Tiffany and Piper lived in LA, 405 00:19:35,507 --> 00:19:39,011 they would come back to Georgia and visit us for holidays and birthdays, 406 00:19:39,094 --> 00:19:41,388 or just, you know, spend some time with my mom and dad. 407 00:19:41,471 --> 00:19:42,681 [upbeat music playing] 408 00:19:42,764 --> 00:19:47,311 This is around the time that Piper started having a relationship with Claire. 409 00:19:50,606 --> 00:19:53,317 Piper is my cousin by marriage. 410 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:55,402 And she is Patience's niece. 411 00:19:55,485 --> 00:19:57,779 And my mom is married to Patience. [chuckles] 412 00:19:58,447 --> 00:20:02,701 I was always obsessed with having something to do with the camera, 413 00:20:02,784 --> 00:20:05,579 whether it be behind the camera or in front of the camera. 414 00:20:05,662 --> 00:20:10,083 So it was crazy to think that I had some sort of relation to Piper. 415 00:20:10,167 --> 00:20:11,919 I looked up to her so much. 416 00:20:14,213 --> 00:20:17,674 I watched her before I really, really knew she was my cousin. 417 00:20:17,758 --> 00:20:20,594 So I was like… [gasps] "Oh my gosh!" Like, I didn't believe it at first. 418 00:20:20,677 --> 00:20:22,554 I'm like, "Is there another person named Piper?" 419 00:20:23,138 --> 00:20:26,600 The first time I met her, I was like, "Oh my gosh!" Like, I was so happy. 420 00:20:26,683 --> 00:20:28,810 I was, like, literally blown away by that. 421 00:20:30,187 --> 00:20:33,815 The connection between, uh, Piper and Claire and Reese, 422 00:20:33,899 --> 00:20:38,862 we saw it as such an avenue for Tiffany and, uh, Patience to connect 423 00:20:39,655 --> 00:20:41,657 because they didn't have a relationship. 424 00:20:43,909 --> 00:20:46,286 [Patience] Growing up, Tiffany and I were very close. 425 00:20:46,370 --> 00:20:49,248 She's four years older than I am. I always looked up to her. 426 00:20:49,331 --> 00:20:51,583 And we spent a lot of time with each other. 427 00:20:52,209 --> 00:20:54,628 And, you know, we got along really well. 428 00:20:55,629 --> 00:20:58,924 But all of us were affected by the divorce. 429 00:20:59,007 --> 00:21:02,135 That's when I began to definitely see a change in Tiffany. 430 00:21:02,219 --> 00:21:05,806 She definitely became more aggressive, physically and verbally. 431 00:21:05,889 --> 00:21:08,517 And I chose not to speak to Tiffany. 432 00:21:09,768 --> 00:21:11,853 I pushed her, in a way, 433 00:21:11,937 --> 00:21:15,148 to try to have a much healthier relationship with her family. 434 00:21:15,232 --> 00:21:18,402 [all] Make a wish, and blow out the candles. 435 00:21:18,485 --> 00:21:23,615 [Patience] I was excited to possibly have a connection with my sister again. 436 00:21:25,575 --> 00:21:30,122 Two moms, two sisters, you know, raising girls together. 437 00:21:30,706 --> 00:21:31,707 [music fades] 438 00:21:33,208 --> 00:21:34,668 [Sawyer] Hey, guys. What's up? 439 00:21:34,751 --> 00:21:36,461 Today we're gonna go spend $30 440 00:21:36,545 --> 00:21:38,505 and get ourselves the best costume. 441 00:21:38,588 --> 00:21:41,842 I made my first video with Piper in 2018. 442 00:21:41,925 --> 00:21:43,635 I did not know who she was. 443 00:21:43,719 --> 00:21:45,721 I thought, "This is another kid 444 00:21:45,804 --> 00:21:48,015 that does what I wanna do and makes YouTube videos." 445 00:21:48,098 --> 00:21:48,932 "This is great." 446 00:21:49,016 --> 00:21:52,894 I'm Piper Rockelle, and I am in a pirate outfit. 447 00:21:52,978 --> 00:21:54,313 Vote for me, guys! 448 00:21:54,396 --> 00:21:56,982 I'm Sawyer. This is my outfit. Uh, if you want… 449 00:21:57,065 --> 00:21:59,401 The very first video did all right, 450 00:21:59,484 --> 00:22:02,487 but Tiffany invited us back to make more videos. 451 00:22:02,571 --> 00:22:06,241 So today, we are going to be getting super long acrylic nails. 452 00:22:06,325 --> 00:22:10,120 [Brandon] And as Piper's channel continued to skyrocket and climb, 453 00:22:10,203 --> 00:22:14,333 Tiffany and Piper start adding new people to the clique. 454 00:22:14,416 --> 00:22:15,667 -We have Sawyer! -Hey! 455 00:22:15,751 --> 00:22:16,918 -We have Hayden! -Yo! 456 00:22:17,002 --> 00:22:18,211 And we have Gavin! 457 00:22:18,295 --> 00:22:19,838 [indistinct chatter] 458 00:22:19,921 --> 00:22:23,508 Tiffany wanted a group of kids, modeling it after Friends. 459 00:22:23,592 --> 00:22:26,261 Friends was highly successful. She knew it. 460 00:22:26,345 --> 00:22:30,015 She's like, "We can get this group and keep growing it." 461 00:22:30,098 --> 00:22:31,391 She thought it would be a hit. 462 00:22:31,475 --> 00:22:33,769 -All right, bye! -You have to hold the camera lower. 463 00:22:33,852 --> 00:22:38,023 [Steevy] Corinne had always wanted to do acting, so we moved to Hollywood. 464 00:22:38,106 --> 00:22:41,777 Very quickly when we got there, Tiffany asked if we could do a video. 465 00:22:42,402 --> 00:22:44,696 [Sophie] A few months after the whole Mani incident, 466 00:22:44,780 --> 00:22:48,450 Tiffany had reached out to, like, my mom apologizing, 467 00:22:48,533 --> 00:22:50,243 saying that Piper really missed me, 468 00:22:50,327 --> 00:22:52,662 and she was very sad about the entire situation. 469 00:22:53,246 --> 00:22:55,832 After that, we started filming a lot more together. 470 00:22:55,916 --> 00:22:58,043 [kids chuckling] 471 00:22:58,126 --> 00:23:00,003 [Steevy] They all got together one day to film. 472 00:23:00,087 --> 00:23:02,923 And people were like, "Oh my gosh. It's a squad!" 473 00:23:03,423 --> 00:23:06,718 And Tiffany just took that, ran, loved it. 474 00:23:06,802 --> 00:23:09,221 She's like, "That's what we're gonna call it, 'The Squad.'" 475 00:23:09,304 --> 00:23:11,515 -It's Piper. Go! Piper! -[girl squeals] 476 00:23:11,598 --> 00:23:13,183 [Piper] I never went to public school, 477 00:23:13,266 --> 00:23:16,686 so I never really had, like, a big friend group. 478 00:23:16,770 --> 00:23:19,981 I was like, "I need help with my channel." Do you wanna do YouTube with me?" 479 00:23:20,065 --> 00:23:24,403 And they started. And we kind of all just had this amazing bond. 480 00:23:26,113 --> 00:23:28,532 [Taylor] And so The Squad was formed. 481 00:23:28,615 --> 00:23:33,328 A group of other child content creators that are built around Piper. 482 00:23:33,870 --> 00:23:36,915 It was like her supporting cast of characters. 483 00:23:37,666 --> 00:23:40,335 But make no mistake, she is always at the center. 484 00:23:40,419 --> 00:23:41,336 She is the star. 485 00:23:41,420 --> 00:23:42,712 [quirky music playing] 486 00:23:42,796 --> 00:23:44,881 -[Sophie] Oh my gosh. -I'm in love. 487 00:23:44,965 --> 00:23:47,592 Tiffany wasn't the first person to think of a squad. 488 00:23:47,676 --> 00:23:49,386 -Time to mess up our bodies some more. -Oh! 489 00:23:49,469 --> 00:23:51,221 -Let's see what it's gonna be. -Here it goes. 490 00:23:51,304 --> 00:23:54,015 [Sawyer] There was Jake Paul's Team 10. 491 00:23:54,099 --> 00:23:55,434 [David Dobrik] Alex! 492 00:23:55,517 --> 00:23:58,687 [Sawyer] David Dobrik's group. There was the Sidemen. 493 00:23:58,770 --> 00:24:03,066 Lots of other older people doing that out there on the Internet. 494 00:24:04,568 --> 00:24:07,487 [Brandon] This is that exact same formula, just with kids. 495 00:24:07,571 --> 00:24:08,655 Piper! 496 00:24:08,738 --> 00:24:12,325 Well, I guess that's it for today, folks! Hope you've enjoyed! 497 00:24:12,409 --> 00:24:14,161 [energetic music playing] 498 00:24:16,580 --> 00:24:19,082 [Hunter] So let's get this challenge started! 499 00:24:19,166 --> 00:24:20,459 [Gavin] Spin the wheel! 500 00:24:20,542 --> 00:24:22,127 Why are you wearing my outfit? 501 00:24:22,210 --> 00:24:23,712 Why are you wearing my outfit? 502 00:24:23,795 --> 00:24:26,423 [Brandon] As these kids start to hit these massive numbers 503 00:24:26,506 --> 00:24:29,426 and going viral, viral, viral, building all of these followers, 504 00:24:29,509 --> 00:24:32,387 they became this massive success. 505 00:24:32,471 --> 00:24:34,973 And everyone's watching. 506 00:24:35,056 --> 00:24:36,725 How do you think they're gonna react? 507 00:24:36,808 --> 00:24:37,809 Myeh, myeh, myeh, myeh. 508 00:24:37,893 --> 00:24:39,227 [gasps] Oh my God. 509 00:24:39,311 --> 00:24:40,729 -[boy] Oh crap. -[Sawyer] Piper! 510 00:24:40,812 --> 00:24:44,816 [Corinne] Being liked in the public eye, it will give you confidence, 511 00:24:44,900 --> 00:24:47,652 it'll give you an ego boost, it'll make you feel good. 512 00:24:47,736 --> 00:24:50,697 And I think that's why people want it so bad. 513 00:24:50,780 --> 00:24:52,199 It makes you feel special. 514 00:24:52,282 --> 00:24:53,492 [music continues] 515 00:24:53,575 --> 00:24:56,953 [Sophie] At one point, we were actually the top 11-year-olds in the world 516 00:24:57,037 --> 00:24:59,915 on, like, Famous Birthdays and all these different websites. 517 00:25:00,415 --> 00:25:03,293 -We are going on tour! -Tour! 518 00:25:03,376 --> 00:25:06,213 [Sophie] There was thousands of kids. Like, it was insane. 519 00:25:06,296 --> 00:25:08,048 [kids chanting] Piper! Piper! Piper! 520 00:25:08,131 --> 00:25:10,550 [Sophie] There was a line wrapped around the block. 521 00:25:11,343 --> 00:25:13,428 And it made me more motivated. 522 00:25:13,512 --> 00:25:15,889 Like, "Wow! I want to keep going. I want this to do well." 523 00:25:15,972 --> 00:25:18,600 "I want it to be amazing." All or nothing. 524 00:25:19,351 --> 00:25:20,393 [Sawyer blowing] 525 00:25:20,477 --> 00:25:26,191 Getting to see the subscribers and numbers go up was absolutely amazing. 526 00:25:26,274 --> 00:25:28,818 This was still one of the happiest moments of my life, 527 00:25:28,902 --> 00:25:30,946 getting to see that number hit a million. 528 00:25:31,029 --> 00:25:33,156 It was something that I had always dreamed about. 529 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,201 Today I'm gonna be showing you what's going on at my house. 530 00:25:36,701 --> 00:25:40,205 Hey, guys. I'm Piper Rockelle. And I'm so excited to be here. 531 00:25:40,288 --> 00:25:42,582 I cannot believe that I hit a million on YouTube. 532 00:25:42,666 --> 00:25:45,001 You hit a million subscribers in a year and a half. Insane. 533 00:25:45,085 --> 00:25:46,211 I know. 534 00:25:46,711 --> 00:25:49,130 [woman] She is an entrepreneur, a singer, a YouTube star. 535 00:25:49,214 --> 00:25:52,008 Piper Rockelle is here to talk about her new song… 536 00:25:52,092 --> 00:25:53,176 [both] …"Treat Myself." 537 00:25:53,260 --> 00:25:56,972 ♪ I'm gonna treat myself Treat myself, treat myself ♪ 538 00:25:57,055 --> 00:25:59,516 ♪ I'm gonna treat myself Treat myself tonight ♪ 539 00:25:59,599 --> 00:26:02,060 [Sophie] "Treat Myself" was Piper's first music video 540 00:26:02,143 --> 00:26:04,145 about girls who had, like, a spa day. 541 00:26:04,229 --> 00:26:06,856 And they see, like, these cute guys outside. 542 00:26:06,940 --> 00:26:09,150 And then they wanna get their phone numbers. 543 00:26:09,234 --> 00:26:11,194 [likes plonking] 544 00:26:11,278 --> 00:26:14,781 [Taylor] Once The Squad is established, Piper's YouTube fame skyrockets. 545 00:26:14,864 --> 00:26:17,409 And she starts earning tons of money. 546 00:26:18,076 --> 00:26:21,288 YouTube has a revenue share program with content creators 547 00:26:21,371 --> 00:26:23,832 that's radically different than all other platforms. 548 00:26:23,915 --> 00:26:26,167 If you haven't already, make sure you like, subscribe, 549 00:26:26,251 --> 00:26:28,044 and turn on those post notifications. 550 00:26:28,128 --> 00:26:30,130 It's called "monetizing" their content. 551 00:26:30,714 --> 00:26:34,092 One is the direct money paid by YouTube. 552 00:26:34,676 --> 00:26:37,429 [Taylor] You upload content, YouTube puts some ads in there, 553 00:26:37,512 --> 00:26:39,806 and then you get a portion of that ad revenue. 554 00:26:40,390 --> 00:26:43,852 [Karen] You also monetize by doing things like brand deals and partnerships 555 00:26:43,935 --> 00:26:48,648 and getting products and brands to pay you to promote them. 556 00:26:48,732 --> 00:26:51,151 Look how cute they are. They're so cute. 557 00:26:51,234 --> 00:26:53,612 Walmart, it's going pretty smooth. Thank you so much, Walmart. 558 00:26:53,695 --> 00:26:57,198 [Brandon] You can drive brand deals through exposure. 559 00:26:57,991 --> 00:26:59,284 Brands want to drop money 560 00:26:59,367 --> 00:27:02,954 so that they can get 50 million impressions in three days. 561 00:27:03,455 --> 00:27:06,541 That is what these influencers can do. 562 00:27:06,625 --> 00:27:08,084 Thank you so much, Mattel. 563 00:27:08,168 --> 00:27:10,545 I am so excited to see what this Gleemer looks like. 564 00:27:10,629 --> 00:27:13,256 [Taylor] The market cap of the content creator industry 565 00:27:13,340 --> 00:27:16,301 is, I think, supposed to pass half a trillion by 2027. 566 00:27:16,384 --> 00:27:17,552 That honestly feels low. 567 00:27:17,636 --> 00:27:19,638 [Frank] Where'd you get that disgusting hoodie? 568 00:27:19,721 --> 00:27:21,222 -This disgusting hoodie? -[Frank] That… 569 00:27:21,306 --> 00:27:23,933 [Taylor] There's merch sales. There's touring tickets. 570 00:27:24,017 --> 00:27:27,437 All of these different revenue streams are almost feeding each other 571 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,815 to create this multi-platform, multi-million-dollar business. 572 00:27:30,899 --> 00:27:33,652 There's kids that are making 573 00:27:33,735 --> 00:27:37,781 six figures a month in this space. 574 00:27:38,448 --> 00:27:39,783 Six figures a month. 575 00:27:39,866 --> 00:27:41,451 [music continues] 576 00:27:41,534 --> 00:27:44,954 [Ashley] One Christmas, there was an Apple computer, 577 00:27:45,038 --> 00:27:47,040 brand-new Canon camera. 578 00:27:47,123 --> 00:27:48,750 There was, like, a Louis Vuitton bag. 579 00:27:49,334 --> 00:27:53,004 That's when I realized, "This is bigger than I even know." 580 00:27:54,756 --> 00:27:55,840 [music builds, halts] 581 00:27:55,924 --> 00:28:01,221 I didn't really know about the monetization of YouTube. 582 00:28:01,304 --> 00:28:02,722 I wasn't clear in that. 583 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,310 I was a single mom living in Hollywood with a kid. 584 00:28:07,394 --> 00:28:10,355 And Tiffany knew that. She knew the struggles. 585 00:28:10,438 --> 00:28:14,109 She told me that, "You know you can really make money at this." 586 00:28:14,192 --> 00:28:17,862 And I was like, "Oh, really? Like…" She's like, "Oh yeah." 587 00:28:17,946 --> 00:28:21,241 "She makes a lot of money. Enough to handle all your bills." 588 00:28:21,741 --> 00:28:26,204 And I was like, "Oh, are the girls' videos making money?" 589 00:28:26,287 --> 00:28:27,956 She's like, "Oh yeah." 590 00:28:28,039 --> 00:28:32,293 And at that point, YouTube was just fun for Corinne, 591 00:28:32,377 --> 00:28:35,672 so we didn't really think about that aspect of it. 592 00:28:35,755 --> 00:28:39,217 My best friend is so much better than yours. 593 00:28:39,300 --> 00:28:41,928 [Steevy] So then that's when I kinda just started thinking, 594 00:28:42,011 --> 00:28:46,099 "If you're making all this money and you're telling me about the money now, 595 00:28:46,182 --> 00:28:47,142 where's our money?" 596 00:28:47,225 --> 00:28:48,768 You know, we weren't getting any money. 597 00:28:48,852 --> 00:28:51,771 And she was like, "Oh, she's getting exposure." 598 00:28:51,855 --> 00:28:52,731 "People know her." 599 00:28:52,814 --> 00:28:55,358 -[gasps] Oh my God! -Oh my God! 600 00:28:55,442 --> 00:28:57,944 You knew that they were making money off of your kid, 601 00:28:58,027 --> 00:29:01,239 but you also believe that your kid is growing, 602 00:29:01,322 --> 00:29:03,074 and that they will… 603 00:29:03,158 --> 00:29:07,078 your… your kid will benefit by being able to get views himself 604 00:29:07,162 --> 00:29:10,832 and to get brand deals and to be a content creator himself. 605 00:29:10,915 --> 00:29:12,250 -Nope. -Mistletoe. 606 00:29:12,333 --> 00:29:13,793 -[jingling] -Oh, a bow. 607 00:29:14,627 --> 00:29:17,380 [Steevy] Tiffany's proposition was basically, 608 00:29:17,881 --> 00:29:20,133 "I'm going to help you make this money." 609 00:29:20,216 --> 00:29:25,597 So, okay, now I'll see something for what we're doing. 610 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:26,931 Guys, can I have some water? 611 00:29:27,015 --> 00:29:29,017 -After this. -I need water. I need water. 612 00:29:29,100 --> 00:29:30,268 So we're doing the pyramid. 613 00:29:30,351 --> 00:29:31,936 [shrieks] Corinne! 614 00:29:32,020 --> 00:29:33,605 -Oh my God! Are you okay? -Corinne! 615 00:29:34,147 --> 00:29:36,524 -I need to go get her some water. -Corinne, wake up! 616 00:29:36,608 --> 00:29:38,443 [intriguing music playing] 617 00:29:39,152 --> 00:29:42,655 [Brandon] There's a lot of money to be made in this space. 618 00:29:43,156 --> 00:29:45,575 And in order to do that, you have to hit the algorithms. 619 00:29:45,658 --> 00:29:47,452 You have to get people to engage with you. 620 00:29:47,535 --> 00:29:51,331 The algorithm is built so that it can watch all of this footage 621 00:29:51,414 --> 00:29:53,500 and say, "Okay, person X, 622 00:29:53,583 --> 00:29:56,836 you wanna see this content, so let's put it at the top of your page." 623 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,714 And so it takes a lot of experience in this space 624 00:29:59,798 --> 00:30:02,342 to understand how can I get enough comments, 625 00:30:02,425 --> 00:30:05,428 enough likes, enough shares to go viral? 626 00:30:06,137 --> 00:30:08,389 So you guys might be wondering who edits these videos. 627 00:30:08,473 --> 00:30:11,559 It's obviously the editor, and, like, where does he edit the videos? 628 00:30:11,643 --> 00:30:15,522 [Steevy] Hunter is basically the one who helps the YouTube algorithm, 629 00:30:15,605 --> 00:30:17,982 suggests content times. 630 00:30:18,066 --> 00:30:20,610 He said he learned the sauce. 631 00:30:20,693 --> 00:30:23,071 How you got more views, 632 00:30:23,154 --> 00:30:25,031 how you got better ads, 633 00:30:25,114 --> 00:30:28,535 how you got the hashtags in the right places 634 00:30:28,618 --> 00:30:30,578 to draw people to your videos. 635 00:30:30,662 --> 00:30:32,747 Just basically optimizing your videos, 636 00:30:32,831 --> 00:30:35,667 making sure the most people saw them as possible. 637 00:30:36,876 --> 00:30:41,589 My first experiences, like, making social media and posting videos 638 00:30:41,673 --> 00:30:44,092 was when I was, like, eight or nine. 639 00:30:44,175 --> 00:30:48,388 I didn't understand the analytics of it and how that helped the video or anything. 640 00:30:49,055 --> 00:30:51,516 Today, I'ma go catch me some gold diggers. 641 00:30:51,599 --> 00:30:55,228 When we joined The Squad, we had to hand over the channel to Hunter. 642 00:30:55,311 --> 00:30:57,438 We gave him the login and everything. 643 00:30:57,522 --> 00:31:02,777 And I was really excited for him to make the videos do even better. 644 00:31:03,278 --> 00:31:06,614 And, you know, it was a little bit hard to hand over something 645 00:31:06,698 --> 00:31:09,242 that I had worked so hard to create, 646 00:31:09,325 --> 00:31:11,661 but it seemed like a really good opportunity 647 00:31:11,744 --> 00:31:13,454 and the right thing to do at the time. 648 00:31:13,538 --> 00:31:14,914 Hey. Hey, hey. 649 00:31:14,998 --> 00:31:17,834 Do you wanna go… get lunch with me or something? 650 00:31:21,462 --> 00:31:23,423 You can drive. Here, let's go. 651 00:31:24,841 --> 00:31:26,467 [serene music playing] 652 00:31:28,177 --> 00:31:31,806 [Heather] We were randomly looking at open houses in the Hollywood Hills. 653 00:31:31,890 --> 00:31:34,017 It's everyone's dream to live in the Hollywood Hills 654 00:31:34,100 --> 00:31:35,935 when you move to California. 655 00:31:36,519 --> 00:31:39,606 It was a beautiful house. And it was huge. 656 00:31:39,689 --> 00:31:42,358 Tiffany and Hunter and Piper lived in an apartment. 657 00:31:42,442 --> 00:31:43,401 And we had an apartment. 658 00:31:44,193 --> 00:31:45,778 The house ended up being 659 00:31:46,321 --> 00:31:50,450 only a couple thousand more than all of us were paying. 660 00:31:50,533 --> 00:31:54,287 So we were like, "If we combine, we could get a place to shoot content." 661 00:31:54,370 --> 00:31:57,332 Tiffany was really excited. My mom was pretty excited. 662 00:31:57,415 --> 00:31:58,750 And Hunter was excited. 663 00:31:59,334 --> 00:32:00,668 I did not wanna move in. 664 00:32:01,169 --> 00:32:03,087 I always felt uneasy with Tiffany, 665 00:32:03,171 --> 00:32:05,298 just because I knew that she wasn't stable. 666 00:32:05,381 --> 00:32:07,634 That was something that was, like, always in my mind. 667 00:32:08,635 --> 00:32:11,304 [Heather] I honestly just really loved the house. 668 00:32:11,387 --> 00:32:14,515 And there was, like, a yard for the kids to run around in. 669 00:32:14,599 --> 00:32:15,600 And it felt safe. 670 00:32:16,643 --> 00:32:19,729 And, uh, I had a new friend. 671 00:32:20,271 --> 00:32:22,774 Somebody who understood the same situation I was in. 672 00:32:22,857 --> 00:32:24,984 You're a single mom trying to make it. 673 00:32:26,277 --> 00:32:28,613 [Sophie] Piper came to me about everything. 674 00:32:28,696 --> 00:32:32,158 She felt like she could just talk about the things she was struggling with. 675 00:32:32,659 --> 00:32:35,203 And she really got close with my mom too. 676 00:32:36,788 --> 00:32:38,706 Piper had pulled my mom aside 677 00:32:38,790 --> 00:32:42,335 and asked her to come move in with her 678 00:32:42,418 --> 00:32:45,254 because she was like, "I need a stable parent." 679 00:32:45,338 --> 00:32:46,631 "I don't have that." 680 00:32:46,714 --> 00:32:48,049 She didn't really have a mother. 681 00:32:48,132 --> 00:32:51,135 She just had this person in her life who made her do content 682 00:32:51,636 --> 00:32:54,055 and wasn't really there in her best interest. 683 00:32:54,806 --> 00:32:57,433 I think that's kind of what made us say yes. 684 00:32:58,726 --> 00:33:00,979 [Heather] Piper became like a second child. 685 00:33:01,062 --> 00:33:03,231 They became our family. 686 00:33:03,314 --> 00:33:04,357 [music fades] 687 00:33:05,692 --> 00:33:07,443 [Piper] Okay, so who wore it better? 688 00:33:07,527 --> 00:33:09,696 [Sawyer] All right, judges, are you guys ready to vote? 689 00:33:09,779 --> 00:33:11,656 -[judges]Yes! -[Sawyer] All right. 690 00:33:11,739 --> 00:33:12,615 [Sophie] Yes! 691 00:33:12,699 --> 00:33:15,743 Sawyer and Saxon's turn! 692 00:33:15,827 --> 00:33:18,371 [Sawyer] Making videos seems fun at first. 693 00:33:18,454 --> 00:33:20,123 It's not fun all the time. 694 00:33:20,623 --> 00:33:23,376 You don't always want to get up and put on a smile 695 00:33:23,459 --> 00:33:26,713 and sit there for hours in front of a camera talking. 696 00:33:26,796 --> 00:33:29,590 I have my orange and my olive oil. 697 00:33:29,674 --> 00:33:31,926 [Sophie] We were shooting for everyone's channel 698 00:33:32,010 --> 00:33:34,595 because Tiffany gave everyone a channel. 699 00:33:34,679 --> 00:33:36,639 Okay, whatever. So my name's Ramona. 700 00:33:36,723 --> 00:33:39,100 We were filming like ten to fifteen videos a day. 701 00:33:39,934 --> 00:33:42,103 Everyone had to be there at 11:00 a.m., 702 00:33:42,186 --> 00:33:45,732 and we would shoot till 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.-ish. 703 00:33:46,232 --> 00:33:47,859 So that's a long work day. 704 00:33:47,942 --> 00:33:50,528 [Hunter] And… action, Sophie! 705 00:33:50,611 --> 00:33:53,114 All right, guys, so we really have to pee, so this is… 706 00:33:53,197 --> 00:33:55,950 I would go to bed for like two to three hours, 707 00:33:56,034 --> 00:33:59,078 get up around like 6:00, 7:00-ish, and do school… 708 00:33:59,162 --> 00:34:00,830 We need to go! 709 00:34:00,913 --> 00:34:02,415 [Sophie] …close my tablet, 710 00:34:02,498 --> 00:34:04,542 and then I would have to get ready to film. 711 00:34:05,043 --> 00:34:08,046 And then do it all over again. And this was every day of the week. 712 00:34:08,129 --> 00:34:09,714 We did not get a break at all. 713 00:34:09,797 --> 00:34:11,507 [Hunter] Give me a call. I got it. 714 00:34:11,591 --> 00:34:12,884 Listen, Piper, to make up for it, 715 00:34:12,967 --> 00:34:15,386 just let me know if you want me to be your personal assistant. 716 00:34:15,470 --> 00:34:17,346 -[Hunter] Okay, action. -Okay. 717 00:34:17,430 --> 00:34:20,641 [Corinne] Tiffany is the type of person who wanted to be in control 718 00:34:20,725 --> 00:34:23,853 of what Piper was doing and how the video went. 719 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:28,691 There was frustration with her and her mom where she would say something wrong, 720 00:34:28,775 --> 00:34:30,526 and her mom would yell at her. 721 00:34:30,610 --> 00:34:31,652 [gloomy music playing] 722 00:34:31,736 --> 00:34:33,821 Like, "Piper, you know better!" Like, "Do this better!" 723 00:34:33,905 --> 00:34:36,783 Then she'd be like, "Okay." Like, "I'm trying," and stuff like that. 724 00:34:36,866 --> 00:34:38,993 [Hunter] Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys! 725 00:34:39,077 --> 00:34:41,662 It doesn't even look real. Sawyer, here, let's do this better. 726 00:34:41,746 --> 00:34:42,830 -Sawyer, turn around. -Okay. 727 00:34:42,914 --> 00:34:45,583 Eventually it became, you're just being told what to do, 728 00:34:45,666 --> 00:34:46,626 like you're a puppet. 729 00:34:46,709 --> 00:34:49,879 -[Hunter growls] Come on! -Enough stalling. Let's get this done. 730 00:34:49,962 --> 00:34:51,881 -[Hunter] Sawyer, standing how Piper is. -Okay. 731 00:34:51,964 --> 00:34:53,466 -How Piper is. -[Hunter] That direction. 732 00:34:53,549 --> 00:34:55,426 -Facing that direction. -[Hunter] Good. Yes. 733 00:34:55,510 --> 00:34:56,344 [Sawyer] It's work. 734 00:34:56,427 --> 00:35:01,349 Maybe one out of 50 videos you film you actually enjoyed and were yourself in. 735 00:35:02,058 --> 00:35:06,145 But it was a lot of faking it to try and make a good video. 736 00:35:06,229 --> 00:35:07,939 [uneasy, pensive music playing] 737 00:35:09,482 --> 00:35:13,486 [Steevy] With Corinne actually doing real acting, real dancing, real jobs, 738 00:35:14,112 --> 00:35:17,198 we knew you're supposed to have a teacher on set. 739 00:35:18,116 --> 00:35:22,203 We had to do school. Six hours of school. 740 00:35:22,703 --> 00:35:25,665 [Steevy] We knew you're supposed to have hours you're supposed to work. 741 00:35:25,748 --> 00:35:28,042 You're supposed to have food. [chuckles] 742 00:35:28,126 --> 00:35:30,169 You're supposed to have all those things. 743 00:35:31,379 --> 00:35:34,507 Traditional child entertainers are subject to a bunch of rules 744 00:35:34,590 --> 00:35:36,759 that, frankly, took decades to be put in place. 745 00:35:37,552 --> 00:35:41,639 You had this reckoning in the early half of the 1900s 746 00:35:41,722 --> 00:35:45,935 around famous child stars of yesteryear that were not paid, 747 00:35:46,018 --> 00:35:47,186 they were exploited. 748 00:35:47,854 --> 00:35:49,856 And so you saw these laws form 749 00:35:49,939 --> 00:35:52,567 that were meant to protect these child stars. 750 00:35:52,650 --> 00:35:56,279 Unfortunately, when it comes to new forms of work and new media, 751 00:35:56,362 --> 00:35:58,239 there are no labor protections. 752 00:35:58,322 --> 00:36:01,075 [Hunter] Ladies, we're supposed to be filming Sophie's YouTube video. 753 00:36:01,159 --> 00:36:03,244 -[Piper] We are, yeah, right now. -[Hunter] Why is she… 754 00:36:03,327 --> 00:36:04,203 Sophie. 755 00:36:04,996 --> 00:36:06,330 Sophie! Sophie! 756 00:36:06,414 --> 00:36:11,085 [man] Because Tiffany and Hunter were doing YouTube videos, 757 00:36:11,711 --> 00:36:15,756 they believed that they were outside of the arena 758 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:17,466 where those laws applied. 759 00:36:17,550 --> 00:36:18,926 [Hunter] Sophie, wake up right now! 760 00:36:19,010 --> 00:36:21,429 We are supposed to be filming your video. Why are you sleeping? 761 00:36:21,512 --> 00:36:23,097 'Cause we're gonna be doing a video… 762 00:36:23,181 --> 00:36:25,725 -[Hunter] Pull yourself together! -…that's intense. 763 00:36:25,808 --> 00:36:27,059 [uneasy music continues] 764 00:36:30,897 --> 00:36:32,815 [Sophie] We went to Bombay Beach. 765 00:36:32,899 --> 00:36:35,401 If you don't know what Bombay Beach is, it's an abandoned town. 766 00:36:35,484 --> 00:36:38,613 And we catch cats there. It's just a lot of fun. 767 00:36:38,696 --> 00:36:39,822 [quirky music playing] 768 00:36:39,906 --> 00:36:42,491 Originally, Tiffany and Piper had two cats. 769 00:36:43,242 --> 00:36:45,828 Then we started rescuing more and more cats. 770 00:36:45,912 --> 00:36:50,333 And we rescued so many that we had 36 cats… 771 00:36:50,416 --> 00:36:52,376 -[cats meowing] -…throughout the house. 772 00:36:52,460 --> 00:36:54,754 Growing up, we had 20, 30 cats at a time. 773 00:36:55,546 --> 00:36:57,924 They weren't in… indoors. They were outside. 774 00:36:58,007 --> 00:37:00,426 It was cold out, we'd let them come in the basement. 775 00:37:00,509 --> 00:37:01,552 [kittens meowing] 776 00:37:01,636 --> 00:37:04,347 [Patience] It's very similar to how Tiffany lives her life still. 777 00:37:04,430 --> 00:37:05,932 [cats meowing] 778 00:37:06,015 --> 00:37:08,100 And you'd have to feed all the cats. 779 00:37:08,184 --> 00:37:09,936 Which I don't know if you've ever fed 30 cats. 780 00:37:10,019 --> 00:37:12,939 -It's… quite an experience. -[cats meowing] 781 00:37:13,439 --> 00:37:17,777 Sometimes the trash can out by the street would be so heavy with litter, 782 00:37:17,860 --> 00:37:19,403 they wouldn't take the trash can. 783 00:37:19,487 --> 00:37:22,031 [Piper] Oh, he likes the camera! 784 00:37:22,114 --> 00:37:24,492 [Heather] Because we accumulated about 60 cats… 785 00:37:24,575 --> 00:37:25,409 [meowing] 786 00:37:25,493 --> 00:37:29,580 …it became Tiffany's obsession to clean for two hours with bleach water 787 00:37:29,664 --> 00:37:33,709 and with a janitor-style industrial bucket every night. 788 00:37:33,793 --> 00:37:35,962 -[meows] -[Hunter] Look it. Diego wants out, look. 789 00:37:36,045 --> 00:37:37,755 [Sophie] We'd finish a video around 1:00 a.m. 790 00:37:38,256 --> 00:37:41,968 I was cleaning till around like 3:00 a.m. 791 00:37:42,051 --> 00:37:43,511 [pulsing music playing] 792 00:37:43,594 --> 00:37:46,138 [Heather] Sophie and Piper fell asleep at the top of the stairs 793 00:37:46,222 --> 00:37:47,598 bleaching the walls. 794 00:37:47,682 --> 00:37:49,934 I was like, "Sh. I won't tell anyone. Just go to bed." 795 00:37:50,017 --> 00:37:52,770 And then Piper told on me, and I got yelled at. 796 00:37:54,063 --> 00:37:58,818 [Corinne] At that time, it was definitely bad… and weird 797 00:37:58,901 --> 00:38:01,112 and un-fun to do videos. 798 00:38:01,195 --> 00:38:02,154 [music fades] 799 00:38:02,238 --> 00:38:04,824 What are the odds, Coco, you would lick that off the floor? 800 00:38:05,408 --> 00:38:06,409 Do you want me to do it? 801 00:38:06,492 --> 00:38:08,953 I mean, I guess I dare you. 802 00:38:09,495 --> 00:38:10,871 [Piper giggling] 803 00:38:10,955 --> 00:38:13,708 [Tiffany] Oh my gosh! She did it! Piper, are you gonna do it? 804 00:38:13,791 --> 00:38:16,043 [Brandon] Once The Squad started really making money, 805 00:38:16,127 --> 00:38:18,254 it became about the numbers. 806 00:38:18,337 --> 00:38:20,506 How many people can we get to watch? 807 00:38:21,299 --> 00:38:22,466 We're doing bathing suits 808 00:38:22,550 --> 00:38:23,676 like we did last time. 809 00:38:23,759 --> 00:38:26,095 How come I always end up in a bathing suit when I'm here? 810 00:38:26,178 --> 00:38:27,972 [Brandon] They're gonna do what they have to do 811 00:38:28,055 --> 00:38:29,307 in order to make that happen. 812 00:38:29,390 --> 00:38:31,642 [distorted scream echoes] 813 00:38:32,351 --> 00:38:34,854 That's when you have kids that are forced into situations 814 00:38:34,937 --> 00:38:36,981 that they might otherwise be uncomfortable with. 815 00:38:37,064 --> 00:38:38,941 [Hunter] I need every single one of you. 816 00:38:39,025 --> 00:38:40,943 To have to be really, really mean to Symonne. 817 00:38:41,027 --> 00:38:44,196 We were actually told to be mean to Symonne, 818 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:47,199 to ignore her, to not wish her a happy birthday. 819 00:38:48,117 --> 00:38:49,118 -Hi! -[Hunter] Symonne! 820 00:38:49,201 --> 00:38:50,536 Hi. You're vlogging today? 821 00:38:50,619 --> 00:38:52,663 [Hunter] Yeah, we're… It's a squad… Uh, you're late. 822 00:38:53,289 --> 00:38:57,752 Before, it was just kind of for fun, and now it seemed a little cutthroat. 823 00:38:57,835 --> 00:38:59,545 -[Hunter] Oh, was that a bad take? -Yeah. 824 00:38:59,628 --> 00:39:01,589 There was, like, something on the screen. It just-- 825 00:39:01,672 --> 00:39:03,215 [Hunter] Oh, something was on the lens? 826 00:39:03,299 --> 00:39:05,134 -Yeah, something kind of ugly. -[Hunter] Oh. 827 00:39:05,217 --> 00:39:10,264 [Angela] They did things that made us uncomfortable and that were hurtful. 828 00:39:11,349 --> 00:39:14,018 Tiffany absolutely wanted to do more questionable content 829 00:39:14,101 --> 00:39:15,603 to get more views and likes. 830 00:39:15,686 --> 00:39:18,314 -[Frank] I know why you don't do pageants. -Why? 831 00:39:18,397 --> 00:39:21,776 You got kicked out because you're not very pretty. [snickers] 832 00:39:21,859 --> 00:39:24,362 It progressively got worse and worse. 833 00:39:24,445 --> 00:39:25,946 [Frank] She's a loser. 834 00:39:26,030 --> 00:39:27,907 -No, I'm not a loser, Frank. -[Hunter] Hey. 835 00:39:27,990 --> 00:39:31,952 Frank, the pug, is Tiffany holding the dog, 836 00:39:32,036 --> 00:39:33,829 saying these things in a weird voice. 837 00:39:33,913 --> 00:39:36,457 He would bully you. He would degrade you. 838 00:39:36,540 --> 00:39:39,794 He would say things that Tiffany probably couldn't get away with saying 839 00:39:39,877 --> 00:39:40,920 in her normal voice. 840 00:39:41,003 --> 00:39:44,507 [Tiffany as Frank] You guys look like crap. [blows raspberry] 841 00:39:44,590 --> 00:39:48,260 [Corinne] Frank hated Sophie, like would pick on her all the time. 842 00:39:48,344 --> 00:39:50,221 It's time to film. What are you doing? 843 00:39:50,304 --> 00:39:51,347 I'm just taking a nap. 844 00:39:51,430 --> 00:39:53,307 [Tiffany as Frank] As you can see, Sophie's lazy. 845 00:39:53,391 --> 00:39:55,601 And she's messy. And she leaves her shoes everywhere. 846 00:39:55,684 --> 00:39:56,685 And she sleeps… 847 00:39:56,769 --> 00:39:59,438 [Sophie] It became a very stressful environment. 848 00:39:59,522 --> 00:40:03,484 I didn't know how to, like, say "stop" at all. [scoffs] 849 00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:05,277 [music fades] 850 00:40:05,361 --> 00:40:07,279 Today I am, uh… 851 00:40:07,780 --> 00:40:08,739 [Frank] A**hole! 852 00:40:08,823 --> 00:40:11,951 -Okay, I am a little bit of an ***hole. -[Corinne] Tiffany was just being mean. 853 00:40:12,034 --> 00:40:13,702 And she was having outbursts. 854 00:40:13,786 --> 00:40:17,123 And just weirder situations that started happening. 855 00:40:17,206 --> 00:40:22,253 [Tiffany as Frank] Let's bring in our first player, my favorite, Gavin! 856 00:40:22,753 --> 00:40:24,713 -Gavin's not here. -[Frank] What? 857 00:40:24,797 --> 00:40:26,674 -He's sick. He can't come. -[Frank] What?! 858 00:40:26,757 --> 00:40:30,344 [Sophie] Tiffany really had, like, a fascination with Gavin. 859 00:40:30,428 --> 00:40:33,055 Like, not in just a friend way. In like a creepy way. 860 00:40:33,139 --> 00:40:35,975 -[Tiffany as Frank] Lick it. Lick it. -I'm not gonna lick it. 861 00:40:36,058 --> 00:40:37,268 It's good. Lick it. 862 00:40:38,436 --> 00:40:39,311 I'm not gonna lick it. 863 00:40:39,395 --> 00:40:42,898 [Heather] Tiffany would flirt with him. That was very weird. 864 00:40:42,982 --> 00:40:46,360 She would say, "Do you have a boner from looking at me?" to Gavin. 865 00:40:46,444 --> 00:40:48,612 At this time, he's probably 12, 13. 866 00:40:48,696 --> 00:40:50,531 [Frank] Let me clean that up for you. 867 00:40:50,614 --> 00:40:52,366 Yeah, come here. Let me get that for you. 868 00:40:52,450 --> 00:40:54,160 No, wait. No, I do want it. 869 00:40:54,243 --> 00:40:56,537 Gavin would try to laugh about it, brush it off, 870 00:40:56,620 --> 00:40:58,831 'cause he didn't really understand what she was saying. 871 00:40:58,914 --> 00:41:00,749 I had no idea what she was saying, 872 00:41:00,833 --> 00:41:03,043 but she wouldn't do this around parents. 873 00:41:03,919 --> 00:41:05,963 [Steevy] Corinne cries when she comes home. 874 00:41:06,046 --> 00:41:08,549 She started revealing more and more things to me 875 00:41:08,632 --> 00:41:11,510 that were going on at Tiffany's house. 876 00:41:11,594 --> 00:41:12,636 [tense music playing] 877 00:41:12,720 --> 00:41:16,223 When people ask me about it, and like here, I don't talk about it. 878 00:41:16,307 --> 00:41:20,728 I was at the end of my rope with some of the things that I'd heard, 879 00:41:21,270 --> 00:41:22,855 some of the things that were transpiring. 880 00:41:22,938 --> 00:41:24,857 That was it. We were done. We left. 881 00:41:24,940 --> 00:41:26,358 [tense music continues] 882 00:41:26,442 --> 00:41:28,903 And I get these angry texts. 883 00:41:30,988 --> 00:41:34,825 [Angela] Corinne got kicked from the group in a group text. 884 00:41:36,952 --> 00:41:40,831 I had never seen anything like that. It did make me feel a little like, "What?" 885 00:41:41,790 --> 00:41:44,668 [Sawyer] It wasn't our idea to do that. 886 00:41:44,752 --> 00:41:48,255 It was completely controlled by Tiffany, out of spite. 887 00:41:48,839 --> 00:41:49,715 [message whooshes] 888 00:41:49,798 --> 00:41:52,801 [Steevy] Corinne's trying to text them and, like, ask what's going on. 889 00:41:52,885 --> 00:41:56,096 And Sawyer said, "I'm so sorry, Corinne." 890 00:41:56,180 --> 00:42:00,059 "I love you, but if I don't, I can't be in videos." 891 00:42:00,142 --> 00:42:01,101 [whoosh] 892 00:42:01,185 --> 00:42:04,271 [Corinne] She had people on social media hate on me too. 893 00:42:05,105 --> 00:42:07,775 [Steevy] Calling Corinne a piece of shit on the bottom of their shoe, 894 00:42:07,858 --> 00:42:11,987 and, like, Corinne was a backstabber, and Corinne was a bad friend. 895 00:42:13,531 --> 00:42:16,534 I basically got blacklisted after leaving. 896 00:42:17,701 --> 00:42:20,955 [Sophie] Nobody said anything 'cause we were, like, really scared. 897 00:42:21,038 --> 00:42:22,748 Like, "Well, what if she does that to me?" 898 00:42:22,831 --> 00:42:23,999 [tense music continues] 899 00:42:24,625 --> 00:42:27,253 [Steevy] Tiffany finds people who want to be famous. 900 00:42:28,212 --> 00:42:30,422 She knows who to find. 901 00:42:30,923 --> 00:42:33,759 She knows who to talk to. 902 00:42:34,343 --> 00:42:35,844 She knows how to talk to you. 903 00:42:36,512 --> 00:42:37,972 She takes advantage of them. 904 00:42:38,055 --> 00:42:39,598 [unsettling music playing] 905 00:42:40,766 --> 00:42:43,644 [Raegan] We hung out a lot, Hunter, Piper, and Tiffany. 906 00:42:44,728 --> 00:42:47,189 There were some occasions where Tiffany was drinking, 907 00:42:47,273 --> 00:42:48,566 and she just has no filter. 908 00:42:48,649 --> 00:42:50,776 She would say things to me, especially around Piper. 909 00:42:50,859 --> 00:42:54,405 She's like, "You're gonna be so sexy, like, when you're a little bit older." 910 00:42:55,489 --> 00:42:57,908 So we were on my livestream, having a good time. 911 00:42:57,992 --> 00:42:59,702 [unsettling music continues] 912 00:42:59,785 --> 00:43:02,329 And then it really took a really unexpected turn. 913 00:43:03,622 --> 00:43:05,457 She forced herself on me. 914 00:43:05,541 --> 00:43:06,625 [music builds] 915 00:43:06,709 --> 00:43:08,127 I was shocked. 916 00:43:08,961 --> 00:43:10,462 [unsettling music continues] 917 00:43:19,179 --> 00:43:21,181 [music fades] 918 00:43:26,645 --> 00:43:28,647 [poignant piano music playing] 919 00:44:24,328 --> 00:44:25,287 [music fades]