1
00:00:06,297 --> 00:00:08,758
What's up? It's your boy, Raegan.

2
00:00:08,842 --> 00:00:11,886
I'm gonna make a YouTube video
right now 'cause I'm bored.

3
00:00:11,970 --> 00:00:15,974
This might be, like, acting on impulse,
but I think this is a good decision.

4
00:00:16,057 --> 00:00:17,517
[gentle music playing]

5
00:00:18,309 --> 00:00:20,353
I've always naturally loved the idea

6
00:00:20,437 --> 00:00:24,024
of being able to kind of put yourself
out there for everybody to see.

7
00:00:24,107 --> 00:00:27,068
I think that I've just naturally loved
being able to have something

8
00:00:27,152 --> 00:00:29,612
that I'm like, "Oh yeah. Here's me.
Look at what I'm doing."

9
00:00:31,072 --> 00:00:32,991
I've always posted things about myself.

10
00:00:33,491 --> 00:00:36,119
Just kind of open diary with my transition

11
00:00:36,202 --> 00:00:38,621
and just growing up
and music and everything.

12
00:00:38,705 --> 00:00:41,458
I know it looks like I'm 12,
but I promise I'm 16.

13
00:00:43,668 --> 00:00:47,255
I met Piper and Tiffany
through Matt Dugan, my manager.

14
00:00:47,756 --> 00:00:50,800
It was very normal for you
to kind of just be put in somebody's face,

15
00:00:50,884 --> 00:00:53,344
and, "Hey, they make content.
Make content with them."

16
00:00:54,179 --> 00:00:58,099
When I first met Tiffany,
she was a very laid-back, fun, chill mom.

17
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:00,643
There was multiple things
dealing with my transition

18
00:01:00,727 --> 00:01:02,395
that she was very curious of.

19
00:01:02,479 --> 00:01:04,814
"When are you gonna get the surgery?
You gonna get surgery?"

20
00:01:04,898 --> 00:01:07,400
Just multiple questions
about my transitioning and my body

21
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that were very… hinted at being, like,

22
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just sexual, a little inappropriate.

23
00:01:13,323 --> 00:01:14,866
[disquieting music playing]

24
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One night, we went to Tiffany's house,
I think, to do content all together.

25
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Tiffany provided the alcohol.

26
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We were in her house.
I believe she took it out her cabinet.

27
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We were on my live stream.

28
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We were just sipping,
reading comments, having a good time.

29
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Mm, I… I definitely get drunk.

30
00:01:32,467 --> 00:01:33,760
Tiffany's drunk.

31
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And it got to a point
where Tiffany was like,

32
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"I wanna come be involved.
Let me be in the stream."

33
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And she, like, sat on the couch with us.

34
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And we're just, like,
all on the edge of this couch.

35
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I remember it starting
with just hand on the shoulder,

36
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you know, then both hands,
massaging my back,

37
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like, oh, rubbing my arm.

38
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Just a lot of touching up here.

39
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Pulling on my shirt
and pulling on my collar,

40
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and… and saying that I was sexy,
saying that I was hot.

41
00:02:01,079 --> 00:02:03,665
That's when Piper started getting
a little like, "Okay, Mom, stop."

42
00:02:03,748 --> 00:02:04,624
"You're being weird."

43
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Then the kiss happened.

44
00:02:06,376 --> 00:02:08,711
-[dramatic sting]
-[high-pitched ringing]

45
00:02:10,713 --> 00:02:12,924
And I was 17 years old when this happened.

46
00:02:15,135 --> 00:02:17,554
I remember laughing and then being like,

47
00:02:18,346 --> 00:02:20,056
"I think we should end the stream."

48
00:02:20,932 --> 00:02:24,352
And just ending it very quickly
after the second kiss.

49
00:02:24,435 --> 00:02:27,063
I definitely was very realistic
in that point

50
00:02:27,147 --> 00:02:28,690
of like, "I know that this is wrong."

51
00:02:29,649 --> 00:02:32,902
Of course, we go on Instagram,
on social media. It's everywhere already.

52
00:02:34,028 --> 00:02:37,574
There was definite NO's
from my supporters.

53
00:02:38,158 --> 00:02:40,034
They were like, "This boy is 17."

54
00:02:40,618 --> 00:02:42,120
You know, "She's going to jail."

55
00:02:42,912 --> 00:02:44,873
I remember it was, like,
a hard time going to bed.

56
00:02:44,956 --> 00:02:48,168
I was very anxious, had a lot of anxiety,
thought that I ruined my career.

57
00:02:48,251 --> 00:02:50,753
And, like, I woke up in the morning,
and it was gone.

58
00:02:51,963 --> 00:02:52,964
Everything.

59
00:02:54,465 --> 00:02:56,718
You couldn't find any clips of us kissing.

60
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You couldn't find
any recordings of the stream.

61
00:02:59,095 --> 00:03:00,096
[mouse clicks]

62
00:03:00,180 --> 00:03:02,098
It was just all gone off social media.

63
00:03:02,182 --> 00:03:03,850
Not on YouTube, not on Instagram.

64
00:03:04,350 --> 00:03:05,685
Like, "What's going on?"

65
00:03:06,394 --> 00:03:07,729
I didn't go to the police

66
00:03:07,812 --> 00:03:09,606
because I think
that I was just very scared

67
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of the status of us being in the industry

68
00:03:13,109 --> 00:03:14,319
and the fact that either

69
00:03:14,402 --> 00:03:16,779
I was gonna have this above my head
in my career,

70
00:03:16,863 --> 00:03:18,489
or I was gonna ruin Piper's career.

71
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[disquieting music continues]

72
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And then I never talked
with her after that, really.

73
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But I also remember thinking,

74
00:03:27,081 --> 00:03:29,375
"If someone could erase this
from the Internet,

75
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then what else could they get away with?"

76
00:03:32,712 --> 00:03:34,297
[tense, foreboding music playing]

77
00:03:35,548 --> 00:03:37,050
[music rises, fades]

78
00:03:38,551 --> 00:03:40,553
[intriguing electronic music playing]

79
00:03:43,723 --> 00:03:46,017
[bubbling]

80
00:03:46,100 --> 00:03:48,353
[rising whir]

81
00:03:48,436 --> 00:03:50,188
-[music abates]
-[ethereal whirring]

82
00:03:55,485 --> 00:03:56,819
[upbeat rhythmic music playing]

83
00:03:56,903 --> 00:03:59,280
Hey! What is up, guys?
Welcome back to my channel.

84
00:03:59,364 --> 00:04:03,368
So, today,
I have a very exciting challenge.

85
00:04:03,451 --> 00:04:06,871
But before I tell you,
I brought my best friend, Piper!

86
00:04:07,664 --> 00:04:09,165
You didn't bring me. I live here.

87
00:04:09,249 --> 00:04:10,208
Oh, true. Well…

88
00:04:10,291 --> 00:04:15,338
[Brandon] The way that Tiffany Smith
was able to build this brand

89
00:04:15,838 --> 00:04:20,301
and then utilize the momentum
to then launch The Squad,

90
00:04:20,385 --> 00:04:22,303
strategically, it was brilliant.

91
00:04:22,387 --> 00:04:24,597
[Taylor] She starts earning tons of money.

92
00:04:24,681 --> 00:04:29,185
At her peak, she was earning
between $300,000 and $500,000 a month.

93
00:04:29,269 --> 00:04:31,688
Seemingly, the possibilities were endless.

94
00:04:31,771 --> 00:04:35,733
I mean, she was destined
for millions and millions of dollars.

95
00:04:35,817 --> 00:04:40,196
Come in like this, just chilling
and playing, and be like, "Shalom, guys."

96
00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,365
And the way that she's able to take people

97
00:04:42,448 --> 00:04:46,494
and get them to do
all these moving parts for her,

98
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you know, she's a conductor of…
you know, this business.

99
00:04:50,206 --> 00:04:52,667
All right, in editing,
I would just do sleeping music,

100
00:04:52,750 --> 00:04:55,378
like lullaby music for babies.

101
00:04:55,461 --> 00:04:59,007
[Sophie] Hunter made it seem
like he was one of us.

102
00:04:59,090 --> 00:05:02,635
Like, he was the cool, fun guy.
You could come to him about anything.

103
00:05:02,719 --> 00:05:04,846
[Hunter] Up here, Sophie.
Why do you have a hand here?

104
00:05:04,929 --> 00:05:06,306
Up here, both fingers.

105
00:05:06,389 --> 00:05:07,557
[Claire] He was the cameraman.

106
00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:08,933
He would help us block the scenes

107
00:05:09,017 --> 00:05:10,893
of what we were gonna do,
where we had to stand.

108
00:05:10,977 --> 00:05:12,520
But Hunter was kind of the person

109
00:05:12,603 --> 00:05:16,065
who just put the action towards her ideas
and what she wanted us to do.

110
00:05:17,734 --> 00:05:19,235
[Ashley] Tiffany was the mastermind.

111
00:05:19,736 --> 00:05:23,156
And when I say "mastermind,"
I mean, you can look at all the videos.

112
00:05:23,239 --> 00:05:25,616
They're copycat videos of other creators.

113
00:05:25,700 --> 00:05:27,452
[Hunter] You're gonna hide
one M&M in here.

114
00:05:27,535 --> 00:05:30,663
She was ripping off whatever was trending.

115
00:05:30,747 --> 00:05:32,457
And at the time, it was crushes.

116
00:05:33,624 --> 00:05:35,335
-[music fades]
-[text message chimes]

117
00:05:36,002 --> 00:05:39,130
Sorry, man. I don't think
I can make it today. I got other plans.

118
00:05:39,213 --> 00:05:40,715
What? With who?

119
00:05:40,798 --> 00:05:42,633
-[text message chimes]
-Piper.

120
00:05:42,717 --> 00:05:43,843
[upbeat music playing]

121
00:05:43,926 --> 00:05:49,974
[Steevy] Crush content is when you put
a boy and a girl together on YouTube.

122
00:05:50,058 --> 00:05:53,102
They either like each other,
or they pretend to like each other.

123
00:05:53,186 --> 00:05:56,522
And for some reason, it resonates so well.

124
00:05:56,606 --> 00:06:00,318
[kids chanting] Kiss! Kiss!
Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!

125
00:06:00,401 --> 00:06:04,530
"Shipping" is the slang term
for a manifested relationship

126
00:06:04,614 --> 00:06:06,824
between content creators or stars online.

127
00:06:06,908 --> 00:06:10,495
It's incredibly popular
because it's viral content

128
00:06:10,578 --> 00:06:12,372
that elicits a strong reaction,

129
00:06:12,455 --> 00:06:14,665
so it gets lots of views and shares.

130
00:06:14,749 --> 00:06:15,833
And kids like to watch it.

131
00:06:15,917 --> 00:06:18,211
Kids like to see other kids
be surprised or scared

132
00:06:18,294 --> 00:06:19,962
or have these deep emotions.

133
00:06:20,463 --> 00:06:23,174
Guys, this is my first kiss.
I am so nervous.

134
00:06:23,257 --> 00:06:25,176
Comment below
if you've had your first kiss yet,

135
00:06:25,259 --> 00:06:26,969
or if you want, or if you don't want it.

136
00:06:27,053 --> 00:06:27,929
I'm freaking out.

137
00:06:28,012 --> 00:06:30,264
[Ashley] Tiffany saw
that these little kids

138
00:06:30,348 --> 00:06:33,476
can draw views and money,

139
00:06:33,559 --> 00:06:38,523
so Tiffany pulled Gavin in
to be Piper's ship.

140
00:06:39,732 --> 00:06:41,025
And that was Pavin.

141
00:06:41,943 --> 00:06:44,737
[Angela] Tiffany decided
Sawyer needed a ship,

142
00:06:44,821 --> 00:06:47,615
so Tiffany chose Indi Star
to come into The Squad

143
00:06:47,698 --> 00:06:49,367
to be a crush for Sawyer.

144
00:06:50,368 --> 00:06:52,036
Their ship was called Sindi.

145
00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:53,079
[drumroll]

146
00:06:53,162 --> 00:06:55,081
-[hearts pop]
-[all] Oh!

147
00:06:55,164 --> 00:06:58,501
[Sawyer] The first ship with Indi
was presented as,

148
00:06:58,584 --> 00:07:00,670
"Look, this is this great opportunity."

149
00:07:00,753 --> 00:07:03,131
"These crush videos are doing so well."

150
00:07:03,214 --> 00:07:06,384
"The fans are gonna love it.
You're gonna grow so much."

151
00:07:06,467 --> 00:07:09,303
So Tiffany would kind of come up
with the idea of what to do,

152
00:07:09,387 --> 00:07:11,973
and Hunter would tell you to do it,
you know, 'cause he was filming.

153
00:07:12,056 --> 00:07:15,017
Today's YouTube video is actually
gonna be super awesome…

154
00:07:15,101 --> 00:07:18,020
-Yeah!
-….because we might get to kiss.

155
00:07:18,104 --> 00:07:21,524
It's just really awkward
and embarrassing, you know?

156
00:07:21,607 --> 00:07:23,943
And I didn't like her at the time.

157
00:07:24,026 --> 00:07:25,445
You know what that means.

158
00:07:25,528 --> 00:07:27,029
Whether she liked me or not,

159
00:07:27,113 --> 00:07:30,700
I'm sure it was awful
for her too, you know?

160
00:07:30,783 --> 00:07:33,369
-And… yes! Kiss!
-[Indi gasps]

161
00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:35,997
[Angela] In the early days, I thought,

162
00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,208
"That's weird. We shouldn't do that.
They're too young."

163
00:07:39,292 --> 00:07:41,461
But then we learned quickly and saw

164
00:07:41,544 --> 00:07:44,088
that when you have the word "crush"
in the title,

165
00:07:44,172 --> 00:07:46,299
the video is gonna do a ton better.

166
00:07:46,799 --> 00:07:52,346
It didn't seem so crazy
after watching them do it.

167
00:07:52,847 --> 00:07:55,600
-[Tiffany] They look so awkward.
-[Hunter] It's awkward. [chuckles]

168
00:07:55,683 --> 00:08:00,104
[Karen] These kids who are pushed
into acting older than they are,

169
00:08:00,188 --> 00:08:03,566
even if it's just crushes, dating,
making out, whatever it is,

170
00:08:03,649 --> 00:08:06,527
it violates their innocence on that side,

171
00:08:06,611 --> 00:08:09,322
and it's hard to get them back
to where they need to be

172
00:08:09,405 --> 00:08:11,115
in their regular daily lives.

173
00:08:11,657 --> 00:08:14,202
It's like they're stuck
between two worlds.

174
00:08:14,702 --> 00:08:17,747
And they don't know which one's right
or which one's normal.

175
00:08:17,830 --> 00:08:19,832
-I love--
-[Frank] Do you like when I lick your ear?

176
00:08:19,916 --> 00:08:21,709
-Yes.
-[Frank] Does that distract you?

177
00:08:22,210 --> 00:08:24,754
Frank, if you throw me off,
this is gonna be your fault.

178
00:08:25,838 --> 00:08:27,757
[Sophie] Tiffany really liked Gavin.

179
00:08:28,257 --> 00:08:32,178
Like, she would make inside jokes
towards him, which were odd.

180
00:08:32,261 --> 00:08:34,722
[Tiffany as Frank] Hey, Gavin!
Can you pass me deez nuts?

181
00:08:35,306 --> 00:08:36,432
Ha! Got him!

182
00:08:36,516 --> 00:08:39,936
We would all kind of laugh and act like
we knew what she was going with,

183
00:08:40,019 --> 00:08:42,772
but it was really odd
'cause she's an adult.

184
00:08:42,855 --> 00:08:44,315
[intriguing electronic music playing]

185
00:08:44,398 --> 00:08:48,319
[Brandon] I was involved in developing
one of The Squad kid's brand

186
00:08:48,819 --> 00:08:50,780
before they'd actually joined The Squad.

187
00:08:50,863 --> 00:08:52,657
I was there in the very early days.

188
00:08:53,407 --> 00:08:57,078
So the moment that changed
my perspective on Tiffany Smith

189
00:08:57,161 --> 00:09:01,832
was the consecutive calls
I was receiving from parents in The Squad

190
00:09:01,916 --> 00:09:04,585
about the pressures
that they were being given

191
00:09:04,669 --> 00:09:07,797
to wear certain clothing,
to do certain things on set,

192
00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:09,966
to work a certain amount of hours.

193
00:09:10,049 --> 00:09:12,802
Seriously, guys, this sucks.
I don't want to be here anymore.

194
00:09:12,885 --> 00:09:14,470
I don't know how I'm gonna eat.

195
00:09:14,554 --> 00:09:17,640
[Brandon] As more and more information
started to unravel,

196
00:09:17,723 --> 00:09:22,645
I realized how dark
of a place it had gone.

197
00:09:22,728 --> 00:09:24,355
[keyboard clacking]

198
00:09:27,024 --> 00:09:28,901
[Gavin] No, I did not break up with Piper.

199
00:09:28,985 --> 00:09:30,319
No one broke up with anyone.

200
00:09:30,403 --> 00:09:33,614
It was my parents who pulled me
out of a toxic environment,

201
00:09:33,698 --> 00:09:35,032
which I'm super glad they did.

202
00:09:35,908 --> 00:09:38,953
[Claire] Nothing was really talked about
whenever Gavin left.

203
00:09:39,495 --> 00:09:42,707
It was just kind of like
he dropped off the face of the earth,

204
00:09:42,790 --> 00:09:44,792
and just no one talked about it.

205
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,296
Shalom, guys! I hope your day
has been better watching--

206
00:09:48,379 --> 00:09:50,506
Walker, it's my intro. Find another one.

207
00:09:50,590 --> 00:09:51,549
Oh yeah, I guess so.

208
00:09:51,632 --> 00:09:54,552
I have to make my own intro
'cause now I have a YouTube channel.

209
00:09:54,635 --> 00:09:56,137
[mellow guitar music playing]

210
00:09:56,220 --> 00:09:59,557
[woman] Walker started off
mostly booking commercials,

211
00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:03,269
doing short films, doing episodes on TV.

212
00:10:03,352 --> 00:10:07,481
And the feature film world
is kind of the path we were on.

213
00:10:07,565 --> 00:10:10,985
-[beeps]
-And then I got a DM on Instagram.

214
00:10:11,068 --> 00:10:14,030
And it was from Piper Rockelle's account.

215
00:10:14,113 --> 00:10:17,241
Something about, "Hey,
we're looking for kids to film with."

216
00:10:17,325 --> 00:10:19,785
"Would you ever be interested
in doing YouTube?"

217
00:10:20,953 --> 00:10:22,872
[Heather] Piper and Gavin,
they had broken up.

218
00:10:22,955 --> 00:10:25,249
And all of a sudden,
she needed a new crush.

219
00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:28,419
And so Tiffany did a casting.

220
00:10:28,502 --> 00:10:30,630
And all these boys submitted photos.

221
00:10:31,130 --> 00:10:33,049
Her having a boyfriend
was really important

222
00:10:33,132 --> 00:10:34,634
for the views on YouTube.

223
00:10:35,217 --> 00:10:36,469
[Sophie] You kind of see it too.

224
00:10:36,552 --> 00:10:39,221
Like, if somebody leaves The Squad,
they just hire the next person

225
00:10:39,305 --> 00:10:41,641
who somewhat looks like them
and can play that part.

226
00:10:41,724 --> 00:10:44,393
[Jenn] Walker and Piper became "Piker."

227
00:10:44,477 --> 00:10:46,437
-[hearts pop]
-So that was their ship name.

228
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,147
It was all new to me.

229
00:10:48,230 --> 00:10:49,398
[Tiffany as Frank] Hi!

230
00:10:49,482 --> 00:10:51,067
[Hunter] We have Hayden. We have Walker.

231
00:10:51,150 --> 00:10:52,568
-Sup?
-[Hunter] We have Lev.

232
00:10:52,652 --> 00:10:53,903
And we have Jentzen.

233
00:10:53,986 --> 00:10:55,905
[tender music playing]

234
00:10:55,988 --> 00:10:59,325
[Sophie] My ship name was "Jophie,"
Jentzen and Sophie.

235
00:11:01,369 --> 00:11:04,830
He actually liked me at a certain point.
I really liked him at a certain point.

236
00:11:04,914 --> 00:11:08,876
So our crush ship became real,
but it did start off as an audition.

237
00:11:08,959 --> 00:11:10,086
-Put it down!
-No!

238
00:11:10,169 --> 00:11:12,380
-Put it down! No, no!
-I'm opening it.

239
00:11:12,963 --> 00:11:16,634
[woman 1] Jentzen joined The Squad
in July of 2019.

240
00:11:16,717 --> 00:11:20,054
Sophie was smitten with Jentzen
from the first audition.

241
00:11:20,137 --> 00:11:22,223
I need more hair ties. I… I like…

242
00:11:22,306 --> 00:11:24,558
[Johna] Tiffany had a lot of enthusiasm
about him

243
00:11:24,642 --> 00:11:26,560
and pairing up Sophie
and Jentzen together.

244
00:11:26,644 --> 00:11:29,146
-Ow! Now I gotta get you back.
-No, no!

245
00:11:29,230 --> 00:11:32,525
[Johna] My first impressions of Tiffany,
she seemed very nice.

246
00:11:32,608 --> 00:11:34,527
She was generous.

247
00:11:34,610 --> 00:11:36,821
We actually had a problem
with our cat at that time,

248
00:11:36,904 --> 00:11:38,739
and she was a major cat lover.

249
00:11:38,823 --> 00:11:41,742
She donated $1,000 to our cat's surgery.

250
00:11:42,243 --> 00:11:45,788
So we were like, "Wow."
You know, "She's a really nice woman."

251
00:11:45,871 --> 00:11:48,082
So I have my crush, Sophie!

252
00:11:48,582 --> 00:11:52,628
[Johna] The first videos were fine.
There wasn't anything alarming about them.

253
00:11:52,712 --> 00:11:54,714
-Why'd you tackle me?
-[Sophie] 'Cause I missed you.

254
00:11:54,797 --> 00:11:56,006
Yes, I missed you too. Okay.

255
00:11:56,090 --> 00:11:59,218
[Johna] I thought, "Okay, you know,
an on-camera relationship."

256
00:11:59,301 --> 00:12:00,720
And the fans loved it.

257
00:12:00,803 --> 00:12:01,804
[comment plonks]

258
00:12:01,887 --> 00:12:06,559
But then later on, the content started
really escalating to being inappropriate.

259
00:12:07,059 --> 00:12:09,061
[soft, disquieting music playing]

260
00:12:10,104 --> 00:12:12,773
[emotional] Jentzen, I really don't think
it's the time right now.

261
00:12:12,857 --> 00:12:14,608
-[Jentzen] Sophie…
-No, please.

262
00:12:14,692 --> 00:12:16,777
I just really wanna be
left alone right now.

263
00:12:16,861 --> 00:12:20,030
[Sophie] Tiffany would direct us
to pose certain ways,

264
00:12:20,531 --> 00:12:22,908
to be hugging a certain way in a clip

265
00:12:22,992 --> 00:12:24,952
to get these clicks
and to get these likes.

266
00:12:25,035 --> 00:12:28,038
And off-camera, it was even more sexual.

267
00:12:28,122 --> 00:12:29,540
Like, she was asking us

268
00:12:29,623 --> 00:12:32,752
when we were gonna do more than kissing.

269
00:12:32,835 --> 00:12:34,754
And that really threw Jentzen and I off.

270
00:12:35,337 --> 00:12:39,133
Because I was 12, and he was 13, 14.

271
00:12:39,884 --> 00:12:43,888
We don't want to be doing these things
that you're telling us to, and it's weird.

272
00:12:44,805 --> 00:12:48,267
[Tiffany] Smile. Look…
You can kind of say "hi" to the camera.

273
00:12:48,350 --> 00:12:49,602
Flirt with the camera.

274
00:12:50,102 --> 00:12:54,607
[woman 2] You know, I remember seeing
these kids getting married.

275
00:12:54,690 --> 00:12:55,983
And, you know, after the fact,

276
00:12:56,066 --> 00:12:58,360
seeing that it was,
you know, a publicity stunt.

277
00:12:58,861 --> 00:13:00,196
But it's their real lives.

278
00:13:00,279 --> 00:13:04,492
And they're supposed to know
how to act in these situations.

279
00:13:04,575 --> 00:13:08,954
And they haven't lived the life
to even understand what that means.

280
00:13:10,539 --> 00:13:15,419
At about 12 was when I got
some sort of Instagram presence.

281
00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,047
I auditioned for Dance Moms.

282
00:13:18,547 --> 00:13:22,301
The show aired, and overnight,
I got like 100,000 followers.

283
00:13:22,384 --> 00:13:23,511
[whizzing]

284
00:13:23,594 --> 00:13:25,387
When you have an amplified audience,

285
00:13:25,471 --> 00:13:29,725
it is really, really hard to distinguish
what relationships are real,

286
00:13:29,809 --> 00:13:31,227
what friendships are real,

287
00:13:31,310 --> 00:13:33,437
and what your true self
actually looks like.

288
00:13:33,521 --> 00:13:35,064
[faint chatter, laughter]

289
00:13:35,147 --> 00:13:37,650
[Ava] And I wasn't
what these kids are now.

290
00:13:37,733 --> 00:13:43,072
And I can't even imagine the pressures
that they felt to put out a persona

291
00:13:43,155 --> 00:13:44,323
that isn't them.

292
00:13:45,991 --> 00:13:50,371
Things can get very muddy
when kids are making a lot of money,

293
00:13:50,454 --> 00:13:52,665
like an obscene amount of money.

294
00:13:54,124 --> 00:13:57,878
What's up, guys? I'm Jentzen Ramirez.
And welcome to my YouTube channel.

295
00:13:57,962 --> 00:14:01,215
Don't forget to like, subscribe,
and turn on those post notifications.

296
00:14:01,298 --> 00:14:02,925
[electronic rock music playing]

297
00:14:03,926 --> 00:14:06,637
[Johna] When we posted our first video,

298
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:08,389
he got a million views.

299
00:14:08,472 --> 00:14:10,933
And we were just like,
"Wow! This is great."

300
00:14:11,016 --> 00:14:14,144
I didn't realize
that that wasn't the norm.

301
00:14:14,228 --> 00:14:16,939
I think we need to bring in The Squad!

302
00:14:17,439 --> 00:14:20,985
[Sawyer] I was definitely making
more money than any 14-year-old should be.

303
00:14:21,068 --> 00:14:24,321
It reached just over $50,000 per month.

304
00:14:26,073 --> 00:14:29,076
[Taylor] The key to growing on YouTube
is collaboration.

305
00:14:29,159 --> 00:14:33,038
Collab groups like The Squad exist
to sort of co-promote each other.

306
00:14:33,914 --> 00:14:37,585
And so if you can build that cast
of relevant influencers around you,

307
00:14:37,668 --> 00:14:40,421
build them up,
and then they funnel into you,

308
00:14:40,504 --> 00:14:43,215
you can syndicate content,
syndicate brand deals,

309
00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:45,134
and grow the whole pie.

310
00:14:46,343 --> 00:14:49,096
"Guys, you should probably go
check out my Instagram, you know,

311
00:14:49,179 --> 00:14:50,389
and maybe my TikTok."

312
00:14:50,472 --> 00:14:52,766
-Shout out a couple of other things.
-Okay.

313
00:14:52,850 --> 00:14:57,229
[Johna] Because Hunter was giving you help
to get those elevated numbers,

314
00:14:57,730 --> 00:15:01,483
they wanted you to pay 10%
of your child's earnings to Hunter

315
00:15:01,567 --> 00:15:02,818
and sign a contract.

316
00:15:02,902 --> 00:15:03,819
All right, guy…

317
00:15:03,903 --> 00:15:06,780
[Johna] And I told my family,
"I don't think it's a good idea

318
00:15:06,864 --> 00:15:09,325
because if we ever want
to separate from them,

319
00:15:09,408 --> 00:15:11,118
you wanna still be able to create content,

320
00:15:11,201 --> 00:15:12,912
and we will be able
to do that on our own."

321
00:15:12,995 --> 00:15:15,956
And I said, "Okay, if we're gonna do this,
gonna start your YouTube channel,

322
00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,877
then I'm gonna be filming and editing
and… and helping you run your channel."

323
00:15:20,711 --> 00:15:24,256
And this went on for months,
where we were under no contract.

324
00:15:25,758 --> 00:15:28,093
[Brandon] Tiffany and Hunter
take percentages

325
00:15:28,177 --> 00:15:29,637
on all of the kids' channels,

326
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,681
which is normal in situations like these.

327
00:15:33,557 --> 00:15:39,939
However, it's not normal for one mother
of the talent to kind of rule the roost.

328
00:15:40,022 --> 00:15:42,483
[Piper] What? You're gonna be
flirting with my boyfriend?

329
00:15:42,566 --> 00:15:46,153
[Brandon] As The Squad started
really cultivating popularity,

330
00:15:46,236 --> 00:15:48,030
Tiffany wanted more.

331
00:15:48,572 --> 00:15:51,241
And Tiffany decided
who got the brand deal,

332
00:15:51,325 --> 00:15:53,661
where it was placed,
who made the most money,

333
00:15:53,744 --> 00:15:55,162
who needs to hold the product.

334
00:15:55,245 --> 00:15:56,080
[Hunter] Action.

335
00:15:56,163 --> 00:15:57,790
[Brandon] "If I give you this brand deal,

336
00:15:57,873 --> 00:15:59,875
then you need to be sure
you're in these videos."

337
00:15:59,959 --> 00:16:02,044
"If you dress this way,

338
00:16:02,127 --> 00:16:05,047
I'll be sure
you're on Piper's next three thumbnails,

339
00:16:05,130 --> 00:16:08,467
which is gonna drive your fan base
through the roof."

340
00:16:09,051 --> 00:16:10,469
"So wear that bikini."

341
00:16:11,053 --> 00:16:12,388
[intriguing music playing]

342
00:16:12,471 --> 00:16:14,848
[Heather] I was all the kids' stylist.

343
00:16:14,932 --> 00:16:18,018
My day-to-day was going to buy clothes.

344
00:16:18,102 --> 00:16:22,898
I would buy them cute little tracksuits
or matching clothes.

345
00:16:22,982 --> 00:16:25,359
It's like 11, 12 girl clothes.

346
00:16:25,442 --> 00:16:27,486
Tiffany would get so pissed and be like,

347
00:16:27,569 --> 00:16:29,613
"Piper is not Sophie. She's sluttier."

348
00:16:29,697 --> 00:16:31,782
"Get her sluttier clothes.
Get her sluttier clothes."

349
00:16:31,865 --> 00:16:33,158
"She needs to show more."

350
00:16:33,993 --> 00:16:35,619
I was just kind of shocked.

351
00:16:37,121 --> 00:16:38,747
My friend did all the thumbnails.

352
00:16:38,831 --> 00:16:43,210
And he has texts instructing him
to give the girls bigger boobs,

353
00:16:43,293 --> 00:16:46,547
smaller waist, make her butt bigger,
make her thighs bigger,

354
00:16:46,630 --> 00:16:48,757
make the guys' muscles bigger.

355
00:16:49,508 --> 00:16:52,011
Over and over, "Sex sells. Make it sexy."

356
00:16:53,220 --> 00:16:55,097
You know it's not right,
but you're just like,

357
00:16:55,180 --> 00:16:56,932
you can't say anything.

358
00:16:57,975 --> 00:17:00,728
It kind of became normalized,
the weirdness.

359
00:17:03,397 --> 00:17:05,649
Since I already showed you
Light Party Mode…

360
00:17:05,733 --> 00:17:09,069
[Karen] A lot of the really big
kid influencers,

361
00:17:09,153 --> 00:17:10,988
when they hit puberty,

362
00:17:11,071 --> 00:17:14,408
those shenanigans
and that pushing of the limits

363
00:17:14,491 --> 00:17:17,578
can become more provocative
or more outrageous

364
00:17:17,661 --> 00:17:20,748
in order to continue to engage and attract

365
00:17:20,831 --> 00:17:24,084
and satisfy their customers,
their audience.

366
00:17:25,127 --> 00:17:26,545
[Taylor] The Internet is so vast.

367
00:17:26,628 --> 00:17:29,339
And when we think of these child
content creators, we often imagine,

368
00:17:29,423 --> 00:17:31,842
"Well, it's just other kids
that are following them."

369
00:17:32,634 --> 00:17:35,220
But it's hard to really know
who these people are.

370
00:17:35,763 --> 00:17:38,599
I think parents kind of
delude themselves about that

371
00:17:38,682 --> 00:17:40,642
because to confront the reality

372
00:17:40,726 --> 00:17:44,897
is to admit that you've put
your children in harm's way.

373
00:17:44,980 --> 00:17:46,982
[birds chirping]

374
00:17:49,985 --> 00:17:51,695
[Ashley] In the very early days,

375
00:17:51,779 --> 00:17:56,033
I saw a video of Piper
just right after her tenth birthday.

376
00:17:56,116 --> 00:17:58,035
Look at all of this stuff!

377
00:17:58,118 --> 00:18:00,996
[Ashley] Surrounding her were boxes
and boxes of gifts.

378
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:02,164
What?!

379
00:18:02,247 --> 00:18:05,250
[Ashley] I remember seeing
a pink flamingo, stuffed animals,

380
00:18:05,334 --> 00:18:06,919
and a lot of squishies.

381
00:18:07,461 --> 00:18:10,047
All of this stuff was given
to them by a fan.

382
00:18:10,130 --> 00:18:11,381
His name was Megan.

383
00:18:12,007 --> 00:18:14,885
And I said,
"Oh, well, Megan's really nice."

384
00:18:16,512 --> 00:18:18,597
[Sophie] I never got to see
what Megan looked like.

385
00:18:19,515 --> 00:18:22,017
I thought Megan was a girl fan
for a while,

386
00:18:22,101 --> 00:18:24,686
until I found out
that he was, like, an older male.

387
00:18:26,522 --> 00:18:29,108
[Heather] Megan poses as a girl online

388
00:18:29,191 --> 00:18:32,486
who's a Piper Rockelle fan,
has all the pictures of Piper.

389
00:18:32,569 --> 00:18:34,571
[keyboard clacking]

390
00:18:35,447 --> 00:18:38,200
[Heather] Tiffany said,
"He likes pictures of Piper."

391
00:18:38,283 --> 00:18:39,701
"He's her stalker."

392
00:18:39,785 --> 00:18:42,955
"You can get stuff too
if you send him pictures."

393
00:18:43,038 --> 00:18:46,166
"It's nothing bad. It's just
extra pictures from photo shoots."

394
00:18:46,250 --> 00:18:48,752
"But he's a pervert."
Like, she knew he was a pervert.

395
00:18:48,836 --> 00:18:50,671
[keyboard clacking]

396
00:18:51,255 --> 00:18:55,634
Regularly, Tiffany would be like,
"Piper," like, "Megan's on the phone."

397
00:18:55,717 --> 00:18:59,721
And then Piper would go over
and be like, "Hi, Megan!"

398
00:19:00,806 --> 00:19:04,017
[Heather] Just by flirting
and sending him photos,

399
00:19:04,101 --> 00:19:06,687
Tiffany got herself
a Gucci bag from Megan,

400
00:19:06,770 --> 00:19:08,480
Piper got a Gucci bag.

401
00:19:08,564 --> 00:19:09,898
Gotta bring the Gucci bags.

402
00:19:09,982 --> 00:19:12,109
[Heather] All these, like,
outlandish gifts.

403
00:19:12,192 --> 00:19:14,695
[Sophie] Brand-new computers,
brand-new cameras,

404
00:19:14,778 --> 00:19:17,197
camera lenses, mics,

405
00:19:17,281 --> 00:19:18,991
iPhones if she needed an iPhone.

406
00:19:19,074 --> 00:19:20,576
She got hoverboards.

407
00:19:20,659 --> 00:19:22,786
Anything that you could think of
that Piper wanted,

408
00:19:22,870 --> 00:19:24,538
like, she got from Megan.

409
00:19:25,122 --> 00:19:29,668
And then Megan reached out to Sophie,
and I blocked him right away.

410
00:19:29,751 --> 00:19:32,379
Hey, guys, I'm back.
It's been about, like, two days since…

411
00:19:32,462 --> 00:19:37,593
Corinne came home and asked me
why old men like to smell underwear.

412
00:19:39,803 --> 00:19:41,096
I… [scoffs]

413
00:19:41,889 --> 00:19:45,976
It's one of those things where, again…
"Where did you get this?" [scoffs]

414
00:19:46,059 --> 00:19:47,603
[wistful piano music playing]

415
00:19:48,228 --> 00:19:52,774
[Corinne] Piper had acting lesson,
voice lesson, one of those.

416
00:19:53,525 --> 00:19:55,903
After we dropped Piper off,
Tiffany was like,

417
00:19:55,986 --> 00:19:59,281
"I have to go to the post office
and drop off some things."

418
00:19:59,364 --> 00:20:00,991
And she had a bag.

419
00:20:01,074 --> 00:20:04,536
And she pulled out
what looked like Piper's underwear.

420
00:20:05,037 --> 00:20:09,750
And I asked her, like,
"Why are you, like, shipping those out?"

421
00:20:09,833 --> 00:20:12,377
And she told me
that old men like to smell them.

422
00:20:12,878 --> 00:20:14,838
And I was confused.

423
00:20:14,922 --> 00:20:17,674
I was like,
"What is she talking about?" Like…

424
00:20:18,550 --> 00:20:20,302
But I confronted Tiffany.

425
00:20:20,385 --> 00:20:24,097
She's like, "Ugh! Stop being so dramatic."

426
00:20:25,098 --> 00:20:28,602
I think the hard part
about other people understanding

427
00:20:28,685 --> 00:20:31,772
why would you stay
in a situation like that…

428
00:20:32,648 --> 00:20:36,985
I guess I thought
that I could… shield Corinne from that.

429
00:20:38,028 --> 00:20:43,742
Should adults be able to subscribe
to exclusive content of minors?

430
00:20:43,825 --> 00:20:46,870
Because that's what's happening
across various platforms.

431
00:20:46,954 --> 00:20:48,622
[somber music playing]

432
00:20:48,705 --> 00:20:50,999
[woman 1] There was a stat
out of Australia,

433
00:20:51,083 --> 00:20:54,670
60% of images
found on predators' computers

434
00:20:54,753 --> 00:20:56,463
were from social media.

435
00:20:56,964 --> 00:20:59,841
The Wall Street Journal did an article

436
00:20:59,925 --> 00:21:03,845
where it said, you know,
"Instagram fosters a pedophile community."

437
00:21:03,929 --> 00:21:05,430
[sinister music playing]

438
00:21:07,140 --> 00:21:09,142
[woman 2] Our investigation
spent many months

439
00:21:09,226 --> 00:21:13,188
looking at a number of child safety issues
on Meta platforms.

440
00:21:13,689 --> 00:21:18,694
In almost all cases
for young girls on these platforms,

441
00:21:18,777 --> 00:21:20,445
being an influencer means

442
00:21:20,529 --> 00:21:25,200
having very large numbers
of adult men as followers.

443
00:21:26,410 --> 00:21:28,787
[Ava] Girls who are dancers or gymnasts

444
00:21:28,870 --> 00:21:33,667
definitely have this audience
that is there for the wrong reasons.

445
00:21:33,750 --> 00:21:37,379
And I've had situations of comments
and DMs and things

446
00:21:37,462 --> 00:21:39,798
that are creepy and weird.

447
00:21:39,881 --> 00:21:40,924
[overlapping chatter]

448
00:21:41,008 --> 00:21:45,220
[Katherine] On any platform, the algorithm
is meant to assess you as a user

449
00:21:45,304 --> 00:21:48,473
and try to figure out what type of content
you might be interested in.

450
00:21:48,557 --> 00:21:49,933
The dark side of this

451
00:21:50,017 --> 00:21:53,437
is that if you are an adult
who is sexually interested in children,

452
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,690
it will not only help you find
truly illegal material,

453
00:21:56,773 --> 00:21:59,568
but also just general
child-related content.

454
00:22:00,402 --> 00:22:04,698
And the most disturbing aspect
of this investigation for me

455
00:22:04,781 --> 00:22:09,786
was adults who would exchange photos
that were pulled from Instagram

456
00:22:09,870 --> 00:22:13,749
and discussed in ways
that were just absolutely dehumanizing.

457
00:22:13,832 --> 00:22:15,250
[tense, pulsing music playing]

458
00:22:17,753 --> 00:22:19,546
[Sarah] In The New York Times article,

459
00:22:19,629 --> 00:22:22,466
there was a comment
from a predator that was like,

460
00:22:22,549 --> 00:22:24,760
"Thank God for the Instamoms."

461
00:22:24,843 --> 00:22:27,137
"They're just providing
all of this for free,

462
00:22:27,220 --> 00:22:30,015
and we don't even have
to go looking for it."

463
00:22:30,849 --> 00:22:33,185
When you see comments like that,
I just don't know

464
00:22:33,268 --> 00:22:35,812
why parents would want
to participate in that.

465
00:22:36,355 --> 00:22:39,441
-[boy] Dude, look how she looks though.
-[Piper] Walker, you go date Sophie.

466
00:22:39,524 --> 00:22:41,610
-I'm leaving.
-[Walker] All right, maybe I will.

467
00:22:41,693 --> 00:22:43,695
-I can't even. I'm done.
-[Sophie] Piper, chill out.

468
00:22:43,779 --> 00:22:45,655
-We like you a lot.
-[Piper] I don't…

469
00:22:45,739 --> 00:22:49,034
[Sophie] I think Piper continued to film
because she has to.

470
00:22:49,117 --> 00:22:50,160
Uh, what if we did like…

471
00:22:50,243 --> 00:22:53,330
That's how she's making a living.
And she has no other choice.

472
00:22:53,413 --> 00:22:55,290
And she's talked to her mother before.

473
00:22:55,374 --> 00:22:57,667
Piper's talked to Tiffany,
like, "I don't wanna do this."

474
00:22:57,751 --> 00:23:01,088
And then she just kinda blows it off,
and then they're filming the next day.

475
00:23:01,171 --> 00:23:03,507
[Tiffany] Piper, stop eating your hands.
You look ridiculous.

476
00:23:03,590 --> 00:23:04,633
[Hunter] Two, one, action.

477
00:23:04,716 --> 00:23:08,053
[Jenn] Whenever I showed
any concern for Piper,

478
00:23:08,136 --> 00:23:10,639
Tiffany would say, "Piper knows her job."

479
00:23:10,722 --> 00:23:12,933
"Whatever you need her to do,
just tell her to do it."

480
00:23:13,016 --> 00:23:14,142
[Tiffany] Action, camera one…

481
00:23:14,226 --> 00:23:16,728
[Sawyer] I don't know when the last time
Piper went to school

482
00:23:16,812 --> 00:23:19,189
or had genuine friends.

483
00:23:20,023 --> 00:23:22,150
She's pretty trapped in this.

484
00:23:23,443 --> 00:23:25,987
[Heather] I've heard her say several times
she did not wanna film.

485
00:23:26,071 --> 00:23:27,989
She wanted to move back to Georgia.

486
00:23:28,490 --> 00:23:31,660
So I don't even know
if she wanted to ever be in LA.

487
00:23:32,869 --> 00:23:34,871
But then COVID happened in March.

488
00:23:34,955 --> 00:23:37,457
And then we were all trapped in the house.

489
00:23:38,959 --> 00:23:41,753
Well, look who's back.
It's Piper Rockelle!

490
00:23:41,837 --> 00:23:44,047
The Piperazzi is on fire!

491
00:23:44,131 --> 00:23:46,967
I'm actually kind of liking
this quarantine thing,

492
00:23:47,050 --> 00:23:49,469
because I am a homebody,
and I love being at home,

493
00:23:49,553 --> 00:23:52,514
so this is actually
a pretty good thing for me.

494
00:23:52,597 --> 00:23:54,599
[intriguing music playing]

495
00:23:55,308 --> 00:24:00,772
[Taylor] COVID was like pouring gasoline
on the fire of the kidfluencer industry.

496
00:24:00,856 --> 00:24:03,692
You had everyone
suddenly shoved on their phones,

497
00:24:03,775 --> 00:24:07,737
consuming hours and hours
of kidfluencer content.

498
00:24:07,821 --> 00:24:09,531
And it's never come back down.

499
00:24:10,699 --> 00:24:13,118
[Sophie] During COVID is when
I hit a million on YouTube.

500
00:24:13,618 --> 00:24:15,495
And, like, everyone was just popping off

501
00:24:15,579 --> 00:24:18,039
because all these other kids,
our fan base,

502
00:24:18,123 --> 00:24:20,417
they were all at home
just watching YouTube.

503
00:24:20,500 --> 00:24:23,044
That was the only thing you could do,
was watch TV or YouTube.

504
00:24:23,128 --> 00:24:24,588
-[Walker] Yo, Con Man!
-Yo!

505
00:24:24,671 --> 00:24:25,922
-Connor!
-Hey, Connor!

506
00:24:26,006 --> 00:24:27,174
[boy] Yo, what's up?

507
00:24:27,257 --> 00:24:29,926
[woman] When Connor joined the squad,
COVID was full swing.

508
00:24:30,427 --> 00:24:33,680
Then the industry shut down.
And then his series was canceled.

509
00:24:33,763 --> 00:24:36,266
Then his other opportunities
that he had coming up were canceled.

510
00:24:36,349 --> 00:24:39,561
And so that became
his little group of friends.

511
00:24:40,061 --> 00:24:42,105
You know, everybody had groups
they hung around with,

512
00:24:42,189 --> 00:24:43,940
but you didn't hang with other people.

513
00:24:44,024 --> 00:24:45,233
So it didn't seem abnormal

514
00:24:45,317 --> 00:24:47,861
that that's the only people
we were hanging out with.

515
00:24:48,820 --> 00:24:50,822
[Sophie] The hours became
extremely longer.

516
00:24:50,906 --> 00:24:52,532
The videos became longer.

517
00:24:52,616 --> 00:24:55,368
The amount of videos
we were filming became longer.

518
00:24:55,452 --> 00:24:58,163
The workload became
more and more and more,

519
00:24:58,663 --> 00:25:01,583
to the point where
it just became so exhausting.

520
00:25:01,666 --> 00:25:03,627
I don't even have makeup on
in some of the videos

521
00:25:03,710 --> 00:25:06,171
because I was so exhausted,
and I couldn't even get ready.

522
00:25:06,254 --> 00:25:07,881
I just had to be on camera.

523
00:25:12,594 --> 00:25:15,722
[Ashley] We had just moved
from Georgia to Vegas during COVID.

524
00:25:15,805 --> 00:25:19,893
We don't know anybody on the West Coast.
None of the kids are going to school.

525
00:25:19,976 --> 00:25:23,021
And it was so hot here,
no kids go outside in Vegas.

526
00:25:23,605 --> 00:25:26,483
So when everybody was very isolated
during that time,

527
00:25:26,566 --> 00:25:29,444
going to LA was exciting.

528
00:25:29,528 --> 00:25:31,530
[upbeat electronic music playing]

529
00:25:34,533 --> 00:25:40,413
I remember my mom revealing, like,
"We're going to LA to visit Piper."

530
00:25:40,497 --> 00:25:42,916
And me and Claire were like,
"Oh my gosh." We were so happy.

531
00:25:42,999 --> 00:25:44,751
[Tiffany as Frank]
Not another Squad member!

532
00:25:44,834 --> 00:25:47,087
There's too many.
Let's start getting rid of them.

533
00:25:47,170 --> 00:25:48,880
[Hunter] Oh, Frank, this is Claire.

534
00:25:48,964 --> 00:25:51,383
[Claire] When I became
a part of The Squad during COVID,

535
00:25:51,466 --> 00:25:52,926
I was extremely grateful,

536
00:25:53,009 --> 00:25:55,845
because I was hanging out
with a big group of kids

537
00:25:55,929 --> 00:25:58,765
while everyone was isolated at home,
doing school online. [chuckles]

538
00:25:58,848 --> 00:26:00,350
Hey, what is up, my Claire Bears?

539
00:26:00,433 --> 00:26:03,436
Today is going to be another prank video!

540
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:04,896
Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

541
00:26:04,980 --> 00:26:07,691
[Patience] Claire has always wanted
to do some type of acting.

542
00:26:08,191 --> 00:26:10,193
She was in her school plays and chorus,

543
00:26:10,277 --> 00:26:12,612
so we were like,
this is a great opportunity for her to,

544
00:26:12,696 --> 00:26:15,490
you know, pursue her dreams, and why not?

545
00:26:16,074 --> 00:26:17,826
[Ashley] Because we were so isolated,

546
00:26:17,909 --> 00:26:20,787
it was very, very important
to these kids to hang out

547
00:26:20,870 --> 00:26:22,956
because nobody was going to school.

548
00:26:23,039 --> 00:26:24,666
And they became extremely close.

549
00:26:24,749 --> 00:26:27,711
If somebody was going through something,
they were there for each other.

550
00:26:27,794 --> 00:26:29,129
-[Claire chuckles]
-What?

551
00:26:29,212 --> 00:26:30,839
-What's up, Claire?
-[Claire chuckles]

552
00:26:30,922 --> 00:26:34,009
[Ashley] But Pay's, like, telling me,
sometimes they don't eat lunch,

553
00:26:34,092 --> 00:26:38,305
and Claire was up
until one, two o'clock in the morning.

554
00:26:38,388 --> 00:26:40,557
But there was a bigger,
sort of, play going on here

555
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,643
of, like… we're connecting
with Piper and Tiffany.

556
00:26:43,727 --> 00:26:46,980
[Patience] I was excited to be accepted
into Tiffany's life again.

557
00:26:47,647 --> 00:26:49,232
And I worked for free there.

558
00:26:49,316 --> 00:26:51,318
You know, she offered to pay me.

559
00:26:51,401 --> 00:26:53,862
I said, "Until you guys
start making more money,

560
00:26:53,945 --> 00:26:57,574
um, I'll just, you know… I'll just do this
'cause, you know, you're family."

561
00:26:57,657 --> 00:26:59,576
-Hey, guys!
-Hey, guys!

562
00:26:59,659 --> 00:27:02,454
Welcome to my YouTube channel.

563
00:27:02,537 --> 00:27:04,998
[Ashley] I could not believe
that we could go from zero

564
00:27:05,081 --> 00:27:09,461
to 100,000, 200,000,
400,000, 500,000 subscribers

565
00:27:09,544 --> 00:27:10,920
on our YouTube channel.

566
00:27:11,004 --> 00:27:14,549
And when the revenue started climbing,
I couldn't believe it.

567
00:27:15,175 --> 00:27:17,385
We're talking about life-changing money.

568
00:27:17,886 --> 00:27:19,846
You kind of don't know
what to do at first.

569
00:27:19,929 --> 00:27:21,681
Like, "Oh my goodness. Is this real?"

570
00:27:21,765 --> 00:27:23,600
[whizzing]

571
00:27:23,683 --> 00:27:24,559
[clinking]

572
00:27:24,643 --> 00:27:28,438
[Brandon] A lot of these content creators…
Let's take Piper Rockelle, for example.

573
00:27:28,521 --> 00:27:33,735
A lot of her engagement on YouTube
and on social media is actually fake.

574
00:27:33,818 --> 00:27:35,111
It's bots.

575
00:27:35,195 --> 00:27:38,615
It's… it's paid interest.

576
00:27:38,698 --> 00:27:40,659
[whimsical electronic music playing]

577
00:27:40,742 --> 00:27:42,744
[Taylor] People will buy
millions of followers

578
00:27:42,827 --> 00:27:46,915
from places like Bangladesh or Pakistan
or Eastern European countries

579
00:27:46,998 --> 00:27:48,124
because it's very cheap.

580
00:27:49,542 --> 00:27:51,086
[Brandon] We call it botting

581
00:27:51,169 --> 00:27:53,380
because it is something
everyone in the industry does.

582
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:58,426
But when you bot a false engagement,
you're not getting paid on those bots.

583
00:27:58,510 --> 00:28:00,053
[coins clinking]

584
00:28:00,136 --> 00:28:01,930
You're only getting paid on real users

585
00:28:02,013 --> 00:28:04,724
that are engaging
and are actually watching through the ads.

586
00:28:05,225 --> 00:28:08,561
You're not getting paid on those first
50,000 views that have been botted.

587
00:28:08,645 --> 00:28:10,605
That's really just an optic play.

588
00:28:11,189 --> 00:28:14,234
It's a little smoke and mirrors,
'cause it draws people in.

589
00:28:14,818 --> 00:28:19,072
But when these kids start to hit
these massive numbers and going viral,

590
00:28:19,155 --> 00:28:22,367
you're gonna need to keep giving
the audience what they wanna see.

591
00:28:22,450 --> 00:28:24,035
-[kids cheering]
-[music abates]

592
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:28,373
Today's video is going to be
my very first Last To Challenge.

593
00:28:28,456 --> 00:28:30,583
We're gonna be doing
the Last To Challenge.

594
00:28:30,667 --> 00:28:32,293
Last to leave FaceTime.

595
00:28:32,377 --> 00:28:33,628
Last to leave the pool.

596
00:28:33,712 --> 00:28:36,131
The seven-second challenge!

597
00:28:36,214 --> 00:28:38,967
Who can eat
the Travis Scott meal the fastest?

598
00:28:39,050 --> 00:28:41,594
Last to leave the freezing ice tub.

599
00:28:41,678 --> 00:28:43,388
-[kids] Oh!
-[Hayden] Ah!

600
00:28:43,471 --> 00:28:45,348
[kids screaming]

601
00:28:45,432 --> 00:28:47,851
[Karen] You look at a lot of influencers,
there is a pressure

602
00:28:47,934 --> 00:28:50,228
to outdo yourself every day.

603
00:28:50,729 --> 00:28:54,190
And so for the people who are
sort of scripting their pretend lives,

604
00:28:54,274 --> 00:28:57,110
the idea is, how can you get
the audience to keep coming back

605
00:28:57,193 --> 00:28:59,571
to see more and more outrageous behavior?

606
00:28:59,654 --> 00:29:01,114
I'm pretty sure Sawyer has frostbite.

607
00:29:01,197 --> 00:29:04,743
[Sophie] There's so many videos that
just made all of us feel uncomfortable.

608
00:29:04,826 --> 00:29:07,328
-[automated voice] Soy sauce.
-Soy sauce?!

609
00:29:07,412 --> 00:29:08,371
Ow! It's really hot!

610
00:29:08,455 --> 00:29:10,248
[Sophie] It doesn't matter
what happened to us,

611
00:29:10,331 --> 00:29:12,000
as long as they got it on camera.

612
00:29:12,083 --> 00:29:15,503
-[Hunter] Oh.
-Sophie, you got "Kiss the host."

613
00:29:15,587 --> 00:29:17,005
-I'm the host.
-I mean… [scoffs]

614
00:29:17,088 --> 00:29:19,507
[Sophie] It starts to really take a toll
on your mental health,

615
00:29:19,591 --> 00:29:22,552
'cause as soon as that camera's off,
I'm depressed and sad.

616
00:29:22,635 --> 00:29:23,928
And it's like one of…

617
00:29:24,012 --> 00:29:26,723
some of the hardest years of my life,
and I'm only 12.

618
00:29:27,557 --> 00:29:30,268
[Hunter] If they let it slide three times,
like this third time,

619
00:29:30,351 --> 00:29:31,394
I wanna see a kiss.

620
00:29:31,478 --> 00:29:33,396
-[Tiffany] Hey, Hunter?
-[Hunter] Yes?

621
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:35,106
-[Tiffany] Are you filming?
-[Hunter] Yeah.

622
00:29:35,190 --> 00:29:37,317
-[Tiffany] Is it Piper and Lev?
-[Hunter] Yes.

623
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:39,527
[Tiffany] I feel like
Piper and Lev should be like,

624
00:29:39,611 --> 00:29:41,362
"Will you guys, like, make out now?"

625
00:29:41,446 --> 00:29:44,365
[Hunter] Yeah, babe, I already got it
all scripted out and stuff. It's--

626
00:29:44,449 --> 00:29:45,742
[Tiffany] That how it's gonna be?

627
00:29:46,326 --> 00:29:50,872
In the beginning, I don't think there were
too many rules for parents coming,

628
00:29:50,955 --> 00:29:53,958
but as time went on,
Tiffany started getting more strict

629
00:29:54,042 --> 00:29:55,168
and more controlling.

630
00:29:55,251 --> 00:29:58,087
Like, "You can come,
but you can only be in the back house."

631
00:29:58,171 --> 00:30:00,632
We're gonna walk in there
and I guess see what happens.

632
00:30:00,715 --> 00:30:02,926
And maybe we're gonna kiss.
We'll find out.

633
00:30:03,009 --> 00:30:06,262
[Johna] The fact that Tiffany tried
to keep the parents in the back house

634
00:30:06,346 --> 00:30:09,808
while the kids and Tiffany and Hunter
were filming in the main house

635
00:30:10,308 --> 00:30:14,395
was concerning
because we couldn't have eyes on our kid.

636
00:30:14,479 --> 00:30:16,731
There was always some reason
to keep us away.

637
00:30:16,815 --> 00:30:20,652
She would manipulate
different parents against each other.

638
00:30:20,735 --> 00:30:23,238
She did not want
any parents being friends.

639
00:30:23,321 --> 00:30:25,949
There was always one mom
that was in the doghouse.

640
00:30:26,032 --> 00:30:31,246
And then you wouldn't want to befriend
that mom in that time,

641
00:30:31,329 --> 00:30:32,997
or else it might turn on to you.

642
00:30:33,081 --> 00:30:34,415
She gets everybody on her side,

643
00:30:34,499 --> 00:30:36,292
but then pins everybody
against each other.

644
00:30:36,376 --> 00:30:39,337
Without you even knowing.
It's… it's incredible.

645
00:30:39,420 --> 00:30:42,423
It was like, you're so fucked-up
and mentally…

646
00:30:42,507 --> 00:30:44,217
Like, you're… like, brainwashed.

647
00:30:44,300 --> 00:30:47,637
And you're just like, "This seems right,
but it also seems wrong."

648
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:49,681
Like, little by little, shit got weird.

649
00:30:51,182 --> 00:30:53,810
[huffing through nose]

650
00:30:53,893 --> 00:30:57,730
Sometimes you didn't understand how
she was getting you to do these things.

651
00:30:58,523 --> 00:30:59,649
[Ayden blats]

652
00:30:59,732 --> 00:31:03,069
[Claire] For the "Copy My Crush" video,
it was doing what he was doing,

653
00:31:03,152 --> 00:31:05,613
and then he would try
and do something I couldn't do.

654
00:31:05,697 --> 00:31:08,032
[Hunter] And, Ayden,
your shirt is drenched now, man.

655
00:31:08,116 --> 00:31:09,784
Man… [clears throat]

656
00:31:09,868 --> 00:31:11,327
What are you doing?

657
00:31:11,411 --> 00:31:13,079
-[Hunter] What do you mean?
-[Claire] Mm-mm.

658
00:31:13,162 --> 00:31:15,498
-So he took off his shirt.
-[Ayden] Like, I'm kinda just…

659
00:31:15,582 --> 00:31:17,917
-Taking off my shirt. [sighs]
-[girls screaming]

660
00:31:18,001 --> 00:31:20,211
[Claire] I barely went
to go touch my shirt,

661
00:31:20,295 --> 00:31:23,047
and I was like, "Oh, you know, haha,"
like, "you got me."

662
00:31:23,131 --> 00:31:25,341
And she was like,
"No, like, go to pick up your shirt."

663
00:31:25,425 --> 00:31:26,509
Like, "Pick up your shirt."

664
00:31:26,593 --> 00:31:29,053
-[Ayden] Oh! Ha!
-I think you beat me.

665
00:31:29,137 --> 00:31:30,597
[Hunter yells] Oh!

666
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:34,058
[Claire] For the thumbnail,
Tiffany wanted to see my bra.

667
00:31:34,142 --> 00:31:37,353
I just followed along
because Tiffany's the adult.

668
00:31:37,437 --> 00:31:38,938
She knows what to do.

669
00:31:39,022 --> 00:31:42,275
[Tiffany] Say, "I didn't feel the first.
Can I get a redo on the first one?"

670
00:31:42,358 --> 00:31:43,192
Okay.

671
00:31:43,276 --> 00:31:45,987
[Karen] When kids are encouraged
to do things that they know are wrong

672
00:31:46,070 --> 00:31:47,238
or know are inappropriate,

673
00:31:47,322 --> 00:31:52,452
and especially if they're asked to do it,
sort of, as a challenge, it confuses them.

674
00:31:53,077 --> 00:31:55,330
Kids understand
that adults are responsible

675
00:31:55,413 --> 00:31:57,206
for the well-being of the children.

676
00:31:57,290 --> 00:32:00,335
When those adults
are involved in interfering

677
00:32:00,418 --> 00:32:02,128
with the predictability of the world,

678
00:32:02,211 --> 00:32:05,256
it can interfere
with the trust that kids have

679
00:32:05,340 --> 00:32:07,467
for the adults
in the world that we live in.

680
00:32:07,550 --> 00:32:09,385
-[all] This is a prank!
-[air horn blares]

681
00:32:09,469 --> 00:32:12,263
[Hunter] Oh my gosh.
Listen, Ruby is actually just one of our…

682
00:32:12,347 --> 00:32:15,683
[Sawyer] The pranks were fun to film
when you were the one pranking people.

683
00:32:15,767 --> 00:32:18,561
They were not fun
when you were the one getting pranked.

684
00:32:18,645 --> 00:32:21,814
[sobs] But why are you doing this?
It doesn't even make sense.

685
00:32:21,898 --> 00:32:25,318
-[Hunter] It's just a prank!
-[boys yelling]

686
00:32:25,401 --> 00:32:28,613
And that's kind of the mentality
that they had going into all these videos,

687
00:32:28,696 --> 00:32:30,823
was, "It doesn't matter
as long as it looks good."

688
00:32:30,907 --> 00:32:32,033
"They can shut up and do it."

689
00:32:32,116 --> 00:32:33,868
[Tiffany] Hunter, get over here now.

690
00:32:33,952 --> 00:32:34,786
[Hunter] What?

691
00:32:34,869 --> 00:32:35,828
[tense music playing]

692
00:32:35,912 --> 00:32:37,538
Is she okay? Sawyer, what happened?

693
00:32:37,622 --> 00:32:39,415
[Sawyer] I don't know.
She just, like, fainted.

694
00:32:39,499 --> 00:32:44,170
One of the memorable pranks was
"my friend broke her leg" prank.

695
00:32:44,253 --> 00:32:45,922
-Sawyer, can you call 911?
-[Sawyer] Yeah.

696
00:32:46,005 --> 00:32:49,300
And it was Piper,
like, fake breaking her leg.

697
00:32:49,384 --> 00:32:53,471
And then, like, she got taken off
in an ambulance that we had rented.

698
00:32:53,554 --> 00:32:55,431
That one was really upsetting.

699
00:32:55,515 --> 00:32:58,726
Thinking that your friend
just broke her leg and had a stroke

700
00:32:58,810 --> 00:33:02,271
is not an experience
that anyone should have to go through

701
00:33:02,355 --> 00:33:03,606
for a YouTube video.

702
00:33:03,690 --> 00:33:06,818
[Hunter] All right, Sawyer, when do we
tell everyone that this is just a prank?

703
00:33:07,318 --> 00:33:09,779
-[Sawyer] I think right now.
-Oh gosh. That was so bad.

704
00:33:09,862 --> 00:33:12,615
[Hunter] Right now!
And hug Jenna and Claire.

705
00:33:12,699 --> 00:33:15,702
-Claire has tears in her eyes. Yo…
-[somber music playing]

706
00:33:15,785 --> 00:33:17,954
[Sawyer] Eventually,
the lines get very blurred

707
00:33:18,037 --> 00:33:20,373
of what's real and what's a YouTube video.

708
00:33:21,457 --> 00:33:23,751
You never know what's real and what's not.

709
00:33:24,794 --> 00:33:25,712
[music fades]

710
00:33:25,795 --> 00:33:27,797
[indistinct police chatter over radio]

711
00:33:29,841 --> 00:33:33,761
It's like the "getting arrested
by the police" prank.

712
00:33:33,845 --> 00:33:35,221
[cop] How you guys doing?

713
00:33:35,304 --> 00:33:37,306
We received a complaint. Disturbance call.

714
00:33:37,390 --> 00:33:39,517
You guys are filming here
without a permit.

715
00:33:40,143 --> 00:33:43,062
[Johna] The prank was to have
a fake police officer come

716
00:33:43,146 --> 00:33:46,024
and arrest one of The Squad members,
whose name was Lev.

717
00:33:46,107 --> 00:33:47,859
[cop] How are you kids doing today?

718
00:33:47,942 --> 00:33:48,818
Good.

719
00:33:49,485 --> 00:33:53,364
[Sophie] That prank was
one of the real ones.

720
00:33:53,448 --> 00:33:55,950
People weren't informed
that it was a prank.

721
00:33:56,034 --> 00:33:58,411
Parents weren't informed
that it was a prank.

722
00:33:58,494 --> 00:34:00,788
So everyone was kind of
actually freaking out.

723
00:34:00,872 --> 00:34:02,832
-[cop] Is there something wrong?
-No, I just--

724
00:34:02,915 --> 00:34:04,834
[cop] No, I'm talking about him.
Why is he crying?

725
00:34:04,917 --> 00:34:08,546
[Johna] I could see my son
crying his eyes out on set.

726
00:34:09,130 --> 00:34:11,758
And it was very traumatizing.

727
00:34:11,841 --> 00:34:14,385
[cop] Turn around. Face the wall.
Interlock your fingers.

728
00:34:14,469 --> 00:34:16,345
-[indistinct chatter]
-[Piper] Wait. Wait.

729
00:34:16,429 --> 00:34:17,764
[Sawyer] Lev got arrested.

730
00:34:17,847 --> 00:34:20,808
And Jentzen definitely thought
that it was real.

731
00:34:20,892 --> 00:34:23,686
-[Hayden] Officer, what are you doing?
-[Hunter] Guys, chill out.

732
00:34:23,770 --> 00:34:26,981
-Okay, he's just going to--
-[Piper] He didn't do anything wrong.

733
00:34:27,065 --> 00:34:28,024
[sobbing]

734
00:34:28,107 --> 00:34:30,943
-[crying] I can't. I can't. I can't.
-[Piper] No, no, no. Sophie. Sophie.

735
00:34:31,027 --> 00:34:34,197
[Sophie] I felt like I couldn't breathe.
I didn't understand what was happening.

736
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:36,866
I didn't know if it was a prank,
it was real, or what was going on.

737
00:34:36,949 --> 00:34:38,576
I just saw my friend getting arrested.

738
00:34:38,659 --> 00:34:40,953
-[Jentzen] No! No!
-[siren wailing]

739
00:34:41,037 --> 00:34:42,330
Lev!

740
00:34:42,413 --> 00:34:46,000
[Heather] I actually was the only person
who knew that it was fake.

741
00:34:46,084 --> 00:34:47,752
The moms did not know.

742
00:34:47,835 --> 00:34:52,131
And the way that, I don't know,
that played out was absolutely horrible.

743
00:34:52,715 --> 00:34:53,966
I pranked you guys!

744
00:34:54,050 --> 00:34:55,885
[Hunter] You guys got pranked!

745
00:34:55,968 --> 00:34:58,429
-[Lev laughs] Let's go!
-[Hunter laughing]

746
00:34:58,513 --> 00:34:59,514
[actor] Yeah, I felt bad.

747
00:34:59,597 --> 00:35:01,432
It's always hard
when you're pranking kids,

748
00:35:01,516 --> 00:35:03,851
because you don't know
how emotional they're gonna get.

749
00:35:03,935 --> 00:35:05,853
But I'm like,
"Ah, they'll grow up eventually.

750
00:35:05,937 --> 00:35:07,063
-[chuckles]
-"It's all good."

751
00:35:07,146 --> 00:35:09,065
[Hunter] Poor kid.
Let's go give him a hug.

752
00:35:09,607 --> 00:35:12,860
Let's go give this kid a hug.
Come on, man. I'm sorry.

753
00:35:12,944 --> 00:35:15,738
-[Jentzen chuckles tearfully]
-Is this the hurt man? Aw, little man.

754
00:35:15,822 --> 00:35:19,200
After filming was done,
I approached Tiffany,

755
00:35:19,283 --> 00:35:22,829
and she did not like
that I had a problem with it.

756
00:35:22,912 --> 00:35:26,415
And she began to scream
and yell at me and say things like,

757
00:35:26,499 --> 00:35:29,627
"After all we've done for you.
After all we've done for Jentzen."

758
00:35:29,710 --> 00:35:31,254
[Tiffany] Well, Peggy, no.

759
00:35:31,337 --> 00:35:33,131
Peggy, I don't want her
in The Squad anymore.

760
00:35:33,214 --> 00:35:34,340
-They're done.
-Tiffany, stop.

761
00:35:34,423 --> 00:35:36,342
[Tiffany] You didn't hear
the way she spoke to me!

762
00:35:36,425 --> 00:35:37,885
[Hunter] You didn't give a warning.

763
00:35:37,969 --> 00:35:39,470
-Should we go?
-[Rigo] Yeah, maybe.

764
00:35:39,554 --> 00:35:42,223
[Tiffany] I can't warn her.
She tells her kid everything.

765
00:35:42,306 --> 00:35:43,391
[Johna] When we got home,

766
00:35:43,474 --> 00:35:46,102
I got a phone call
threatening our position in The Squad.

767
00:35:46,769 --> 00:35:49,939
That they just weren't sure
if they really wanted to keep him around.

768
00:35:50,940 --> 00:35:52,483
I was shocked because, you know,

769
00:35:52,567 --> 00:35:55,528
here we had been going along
all this time,

770
00:35:55,611 --> 00:35:59,031
and just like that, you're like,
"You're done with my kid?"

771
00:35:59,907 --> 00:36:02,660
[Jenn] Johna and I formed an alliance.

772
00:36:02,743 --> 00:36:05,705
Anything that we saw or heard,
we would share with each other.

773
00:36:05,788 --> 00:36:08,624
And then I started having
conversations with Walker,

774
00:36:08,708 --> 00:36:12,795
telling him I want to be done
with this whole situation.

775
00:36:12,879 --> 00:36:14,922
And he was so upset.

776
00:36:15,006 --> 00:36:16,674
He's like, "I love it there."

777
00:36:16,757 --> 00:36:19,886
"I love making YouTube videos.
This is my friend group."

778
00:36:19,969 --> 00:36:22,013
He did not wanna leave.

779
00:36:22,096 --> 00:36:25,808
And then, one day,
Johna called me and said,

780
00:36:25,892 --> 00:36:29,604
"We are leaving together. Are you in?"
And I'm like, "Well, of course I'm in."

781
00:36:29,687 --> 00:36:31,439
We thought if we left together,

782
00:36:31,522 --> 00:36:34,442
maybe she won't try to tear our kids down.

783
00:36:35,276 --> 00:36:38,821
We brought in Nelson,
which is Jentzen's dad,

784
00:36:38,905 --> 00:36:40,823
um, to kind of be our spokesperson,

785
00:36:40,907 --> 00:36:44,410
because we were all very, very emotional,
and he was very far removed.

786
00:36:44,493 --> 00:36:46,245
You know, he lives out of state.

787
00:36:46,329 --> 00:36:49,207
We thought he could maybe come in
and kind of speak for us,

788
00:36:49,290 --> 00:36:51,292
since we were all very emotional about it.

789
00:36:51,375 --> 00:36:54,378
And then he began to break off
and talk to Tiffany.

790
00:36:54,462 --> 00:36:56,923
And she began to get to him.

791
00:36:57,506 --> 00:37:01,510
And within days, she had changed his mind.

792
00:37:01,594 --> 00:37:05,932
And he decided to let our son Jentzen
stay in The Squad and work with her.

793
00:37:07,683 --> 00:37:09,185
[foreboding music playing]

794
00:37:09,268 --> 00:37:12,230
[Angela] When Walker left
and Jentzen came back,

795
00:37:12,313 --> 00:37:14,982
it was not okay to speak to Johna.

796
00:37:15,483 --> 00:37:18,152
Tiffany very much
did not like Johna Ramirez,

797
00:37:18,236 --> 00:37:19,237
and it was known.

798
00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:21,906
[Hunter] Yeah, there we go.
Oh, look at that. He'll do it for you.

799
00:37:21,989 --> 00:37:25,034
Now that Johna has been banned from set,

800
00:37:25,117 --> 00:37:28,496
Jentzen has to be chaperoned then
by his dad, Nelson.

801
00:37:28,579 --> 00:37:33,334
But unfortunately,
Jentzen had Tiffany in his ear

802
00:37:33,417 --> 00:37:36,754
telling him that his mom
wants all of his money,

803
00:37:36,837 --> 00:37:40,091
she's gonna try to take all the money,
and all these lies.

804
00:37:41,634 --> 00:37:44,053
[Johna] I began to talk
to authorities about it.

805
00:37:44,136 --> 00:37:45,346
And they told me,

806
00:37:45,429 --> 00:37:48,516
as long as one parent tells him he can go
and one parent tells him he can't,

807
00:37:48,599 --> 00:37:50,643
this is an internal family dispute.

808
00:37:50,726 --> 00:37:52,270
There's nothing we can do.

809
00:37:53,562 --> 00:37:54,939
[messages whooshes]

810
00:37:55,022 --> 00:37:56,524
[Heather] Tiffany loves drama.

811
00:37:57,775 --> 00:38:00,111
She got off on fucking with people.

812
00:38:00,736 --> 00:38:04,532
After I got fired from my styling job,

813
00:38:04,615 --> 00:38:06,492
I got to see a lot more.

814
00:38:06,575 --> 00:38:09,954
And her outbursts seemed to get worse.

815
00:38:10,830 --> 00:38:13,624
She just, like,
kind of lost it at that point.

816
00:38:18,796 --> 00:38:23,175
[Sophie] So we had gotten a warning
that Child Protective Services was coming.

817
00:38:23,259 --> 00:38:26,137
Somebody had reported
the things Tiffany was doing,

818
00:38:26,220 --> 00:38:28,097
but we didn't know who it was.

819
00:38:29,598 --> 00:38:31,976
Tiffany pulled Piper and I aside.

820
00:38:32,059 --> 00:38:35,354
She was like, "Sophie, do you want
your best friend's mom to go to jail?"

821
00:38:35,855 --> 00:38:38,274
And I was like… [chuckles nervously] "No."

822
00:38:38,357 --> 00:38:40,484
"You need to do this correctly,
both of you."

823
00:38:40,568 --> 00:38:44,071
"You guys have to say that I am
nothing but nice and nothing but normal."

824
00:38:44,155 --> 00:38:45,323
CPS came.

825
00:38:45,406 --> 00:38:49,076
Piper and I were like,
"No, she's amazing. She's perfect."

826
00:38:49,660 --> 00:38:51,912
And I remember feeling such crap

827
00:38:51,996 --> 00:38:55,833
because I knew it was so… not true.

828
00:38:56,417 --> 00:39:00,338
[Heather] But CPS was like,
"Oh, these two kids live in a mansion."

829
00:39:00,421 --> 00:39:03,549
"They're perfectly dressed.
Their house is immaculate."

830
00:39:04,633 --> 00:39:07,511
They could have saved
both of them at that point

831
00:39:08,012 --> 00:39:11,974
had they not been instructed
to tell them bullshit.

832
00:39:14,143 --> 00:39:18,230
My fear was, if we left,
Sophie would never see Piper again.

833
00:39:18,314 --> 00:39:19,899
They would never be friends again.

834
00:39:19,982 --> 00:39:21,025
So…

835
00:39:21,734 --> 00:39:24,070
[voice breaks] …that was
what kept me there.

836
00:39:26,030 --> 00:39:30,493
Plus, Piper asking me to come in.
And I… I just didn't want to leave her.

837
00:39:32,578 --> 00:39:33,871
I felt bad for her.

838
00:39:33,954 --> 00:39:35,331
[somber music playing]

839
00:39:38,125 --> 00:39:40,753
We didn't talk to each other
about everything that was going on

840
00:39:40,836 --> 00:39:41,837
and happening to us

841
00:39:41,921 --> 00:39:46,217
because we didn't know if we were
actually on the same team or not.

842
00:39:46,300 --> 00:39:50,179
And we didn't know if what we said
was gonna get back to Tiffany or not.

843
00:39:50,262 --> 00:39:51,263
[tense music playing]

844
00:39:51,347 --> 00:39:53,766
[Sophie] With Claire, for instance,
I had very big trust issues

845
00:39:53,849 --> 00:39:55,059
'cause she was family.

846
00:39:55,559 --> 00:39:57,686
So I was like, "I can't say
what's happening to me,

847
00:39:57,770 --> 00:39:59,897
and I can't say
how I feel about a situation

848
00:39:59,980 --> 00:40:01,649
'cause she's gonna go telling them."

849
00:40:03,192 --> 00:40:06,153
[Heather] One day,
Sophie's phone got mysteriously stolen,

850
00:40:06,237 --> 00:40:08,364
so Tiffany opened her a new account.

851
00:40:08,447 --> 00:40:09,907
She's reading all of our texts.

852
00:40:09,990 --> 00:40:12,910
-[message whooshes]
-And there's a text in there that said…

853
00:40:12,993 --> 00:40:16,247
-[message whooshes]
-"I wish we could adopt Piper and leave."

854
00:40:16,789 --> 00:40:18,874
-[message whooshes]
-And I said, "Me too, kid."

855
00:40:19,375 --> 00:40:21,752
And Tiffany came out screaming,

856
00:40:21,836 --> 00:40:23,879
going off about everything.

857
00:40:23,963 --> 00:40:26,298
And then Sophie lost it. She blew up.

858
00:40:27,216 --> 00:40:29,677
And so Sophie got put on punishment.

859
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:33,055
For two weeks,
she wasn't allowed to film videos

860
00:40:33,139 --> 00:40:35,307
'cause she needed to apologize to Tiffany.

861
00:40:36,517 --> 00:40:38,853
The only way
that she could be back in The Squad

862
00:40:38,936 --> 00:40:41,981
is if I was to give up parental right.

863
00:40:42,481 --> 00:40:43,774
And I refused.

864
00:40:43,858 --> 00:40:45,401
[tense music builds, fades]

865
00:40:45,484 --> 00:40:47,445
And I said, "Fuck you,
and fuck your squad."

866
00:40:47,528 --> 00:40:49,738
And then we moved out the next week.

867
00:40:49,822 --> 00:40:50,823
[message whooshes]

868
00:40:50,906 --> 00:40:52,158
[disquieting music playing]

869
00:40:53,534 --> 00:40:56,787
When we left,
not one of the kids could talk to Sophie.

870
00:40:57,413 --> 00:41:00,583
She had a boyfriend at the time, Jentzen.

871
00:41:00,666 --> 00:41:02,751
He was never allowed
to speak to her again.

872
00:41:02,835 --> 00:41:04,795
He was forced to block her.

873
00:41:05,421 --> 00:41:07,506
And he never spoke to Sophie again.

874
00:41:08,507 --> 00:41:11,010
Everything got ripped from her.

875
00:41:12,052 --> 00:41:15,055
[Sophie] It hurt a lot
'cause that was my first boyfriend.

876
00:41:15,848 --> 00:41:17,516
We didn't even officially break up.

877
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:19,852
I found out when everybody else found out.

878
00:41:19,935 --> 00:41:24,148
Okay, so Elliana just showed up.
And, uh, bro, I'm nervous, dude.

879
00:41:25,065 --> 00:41:28,611
[Sophie] Months later, he started
getting shipped with this other girl.

880
00:41:30,029 --> 00:41:33,491
And I remember being,
like, so heartbroken over it.

881
00:41:33,991 --> 00:41:34,950
And Piper too.

882
00:41:35,034 --> 00:41:37,786
I wanted to be there for her,
and I didn't wanna leave her.

883
00:41:37,870 --> 00:41:41,415
[sobbing] Piper, you are my best friend
in the whole entire world.

884
00:41:41,499 --> 00:41:43,250
And I still think you are.

885
00:41:43,334 --> 00:41:46,545
Whether you think it or not,
you're my best friend, okay?

886
00:41:47,213 --> 00:41:50,341
I am gonna miss you so much.

887
00:41:51,091 --> 00:41:55,054
I begged my mom to go back. "I miss Piper.
I wanna go back. I wanna go back."

888
00:41:55,137 --> 00:41:58,224
She was like, "We are not going back.
You are not going back to that place. No."

889
00:41:58,307 --> 00:41:59,642
[somber music playing]

890
00:41:59,725 --> 00:42:02,561
[Sawyer] Not only was Sophie
Piper's best friend,

891
00:42:02,645 --> 00:42:04,980
I was pretty close to her as well,
you know?

892
00:42:05,064 --> 00:42:08,859
It hurts to have to cut someone off
that was so close to you

893
00:42:08,943 --> 00:42:11,237
because of an adult
that's controlling you.

894
00:42:12,404 --> 00:42:13,489
[message whooshes]

895
00:42:14,657 --> 00:42:17,326
[Claire] Piper had some days
where she would just cry.

896
00:42:19,119 --> 00:42:21,497
She never told anybody why she was crying.

897
00:42:21,997 --> 00:42:24,750
And she and Tiffany would go on a drive.

898
00:42:24,833 --> 00:42:27,336
And we never knew
what they did or where they went.

899
00:42:27,836 --> 00:42:30,756
I remember she came back,
and she went right upstairs to her room.

900
00:42:30,839 --> 00:42:31,966
[music fades]

901
00:42:32,049 --> 00:42:35,427
Living like Mr. Beast for 24 hours!

902
00:42:35,511 --> 00:42:36,971
We have Emily!

903
00:42:37,054 --> 00:42:38,722
-So what are we doing?
-So today…

904
00:42:38,806 --> 00:42:42,685
Maybe a month or so after I had gotten
my million-subscriber plaque,

905
00:42:43,185 --> 00:42:44,812
I started to realize, like,

906
00:42:45,813 --> 00:42:47,231
"What am I doing here?"

907
00:42:47,314 --> 00:42:49,900
I'm not even making the ideas, you know?

908
00:42:49,984 --> 00:42:53,153
I'm just being told
what to do and doing it.

909
00:42:53,237 --> 00:42:55,781
You know,
it starts to lose all of its joy.

910
00:42:56,490 --> 00:42:58,742
So, guys, a lot of the rumors are true.

911
00:42:58,826 --> 00:43:01,120
Yes, I did leave Piper Rockelle's Squad.

912
00:43:01,203 --> 00:43:03,122
-[gasps effect]
-But no hate to anyone.

913
00:43:03,205 --> 00:43:07,084
We're all on good terms for now.
Um, we'll see how things go, but…

914
00:43:07,167 --> 00:43:09,920
It was definitely stressful
when I left at first.

915
00:43:10,004 --> 00:43:12,798
You start to realize
that you're gonna lose

916
00:43:12,881 --> 00:43:16,468
all the views that you're getting,
everything that you're making.

917
00:43:16,552 --> 00:43:20,556
You're gonna lose your friends,
the people you hang out with every day.

918
00:43:20,639 --> 00:43:24,059
It definitely keeps you there
as long as it can.

919
00:43:24,143 --> 00:43:25,686
[Hunter] Look, guys, I'm not gonna lie.

920
00:43:25,769 --> 00:43:27,980
The pace we're at right now,
we're gonna miss the sunset.

921
00:43:28,063 --> 00:43:29,023
I know. I think we are…

922
00:43:29,106 --> 00:43:30,524
My breaking point

923
00:43:30,608 --> 00:43:33,569
was the first time
that I stood up to Tiffany.

924
00:43:33,652 --> 00:43:37,239
And I saw how she handled it.

925
00:43:37,323 --> 00:43:39,992
And I just knew
that I couldn't take it anymore.

926
00:43:40,075 --> 00:43:43,329
I didn't really know Tiffany
until after we moved to Las Vegas.

927
00:43:43,412 --> 00:43:46,915
And I knew what Patience
had told me previously,

928
00:43:46,999 --> 00:43:49,126
but I hadn't seen that behavior exhibited.

929
00:43:49,209 --> 00:43:50,169
[messages whooshes]

930
00:43:50,252 --> 00:43:52,421
[foreboding music playing]

931
00:43:52,504 --> 00:43:54,590
And I finally saw it firsthand.

932
00:43:55,424 --> 00:43:58,969
Tiffany screaming at Claire and Elliana

933
00:43:59,053 --> 00:44:03,307
for something that Claire had done
to protect someone else.

934
00:44:03,390 --> 00:44:05,434
[Hunter] …disrespect Jentzen,
otherwise, like I said--

935
00:44:05,517 --> 00:44:08,812
[Tiffany] I am done. And Elliana, I know
you're hearing this. You keep up with--

936
00:44:08,896 --> 00:44:10,814
You owe me a fucking apology, Elliana,

937
00:44:10,898 --> 00:44:13,567
because you are
a disrespectful little bitch.

938
00:44:14,526 --> 00:44:17,237
After she saw that,
she was like, "Mm-mm. Nope."

939
00:44:17,321 --> 00:44:19,323
"She's not gonna talk to my kid that way."

940
00:44:19,406 --> 00:44:20,699
And that was that.

941
00:44:21,617 --> 00:44:23,077
[tense music playing]

942
00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:25,037
[Ashley] The morning that we left,

943
00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:28,957
we didn't show up
for the filming of the first video.

944
00:44:31,168 --> 00:44:32,961
I got a voicemail from Hunter.

945
00:44:33,671 --> 00:44:34,505
[beep]

946
00:44:34,588 --> 00:44:39,176
Okay, Ashley, um, so I'm confused.
I don't know what's going on here.

947
00:44:39,259 --> 00:44:42,763
I've been very transparent
and clear the entire time.

948
00:44:42,846 --> 00:44:45,182
Now, all of a sudden,
everyone that I trusted and cared about

949
00:44:45,265 --> 00:44:48,727
and, honestly, loved more than anything,
more than anything, you would know this,

950
00:44:48,811 --> 00:44:51,021
have literally turned
and stabbed me in the back…

951
00:44:51,105 --> 00:44:54,733
[Ashley] But I feel like
he knew why we were leaving,

952
00:44:54,817 --> 00:44:56,902
but he was gonna have to
deal with Tiffany.

953
00:44:56,985 --> 00:45:00,364
And his voicemail was very frantic.

954
00:45:00,989 --> 00:45:03,158
[Hunter] My feelings are hurt.
No one said anything.

955
00:45:03,242 --> 00:45:05,661
I just woke up one day,
and boom, half my shit's gone.

956
00:45:05,744 --> 00:45:09,164
Half of the kids that I, I'm gonna say,
raised in the social media world

957
00:45:09,248 --> 00:45:11,083
and cared about
and loved more than anything,

958
00:45:11,166 --> 00:45:13,877
because I don't have anything,
just fucking quit on me.

959
00:45:15,421 --> 00:45:16,755
Like, can you call me?

960
00:45:16,839 --> 00:45:18,090
[tense music continues]

961
00:45:20,175 --> 00:45:22,636
[Claire] I didn't even
get to say goodbye to Piper.

962
00:45:23,137 --> 00:45:25,264
I didn't even get to explain to her,

963
00:45:25,347 --> 00:45:27,975
"I'm not leaving you
just because I'm leaving you."

964
00:45:28,684 --> 00:45:32,646
That was my biggest thing,
was not being there for Piper anymore.

965
00:45:34,648 --> 00:45:36,692
No, yeah. I… I just wanna make, like…

966
00:45:36,775 --> 00:45:38,360
[Heather] I felt bad for Piper.

967
00:45:38,444 --> 00:45:39,903
[somber music playing]

968
00:45:39,987 --> 00:45:43,198
[tearfully] I always wonder,
like, how is she? [sniffles]

969
00:45:45,784 --> 00:45:49,705
[voice breaking] 'Cause we left her there
with a fucking monster.

970
00:45:49,788 --> 00:45:51,331
-[sniffles]
-[music fades]

971
00:45:51,957 --> 00:45:53,792
And she was my little buddy.

972
00:45:54,668 --> 00:45:59,882
And, like… [sighs] …hopefully,
when she gets older, she'll realize.

973
00:46:01,467 --> 00:46:04,094
Maybe one day,
her and Soph could reconnect.

974
00:46:06,263 --> 00:46:07,639
But I hope she's good.

975
00:46:08,140 --> 00:46:09,057
[sniffles]

976
00:46:10,601 --> 00:46:12,352
[poignant piano music playing]

977
00:46:20,319 --> 00:46:21,737
I'm, like, a mess.

978
00:46:21,820 --> 00:46:22,654
Hey, guys.

979
00:46:23,155 --> 00:46:25,783
-We just made a gingerbread house.
-We made gingerbread houses.

980
00:46:25,866 --> 00:46:27,534
[indistinct chatter over cell phone]

981
00:46:27,618 --> 00:46:31,330
[Ashley] Claire used to talk and argue
and, you know, normal kid things.

982
00:46:31,413 --> 00:46:33,415
[Claire] No, like actually.
We're, like, not joking.

983
00:46:33,499 --> 00:46:35,918
[Ashley] But when she got home
and didn't come out of her room…

984
00:46:36,001 --> 00:46:37,377
[Claire] It's cute though.

985
00:46:37,461 --> 00:46:38,670
[inhales]

986
00:46:39,421 --> 00:46:40,839
…it's like she went mute.

987
00:46:41,924 --> 00:46:46,386
Guys, today we are doing
"Who Knows Their Crush The Best."

988
00:46:46,470 --> 00:46:49,223
-[over phone] Wow!
-[Amber] My kid hates social media.

989
00:46:50,057 --> 00:46:52,976
My kid doesn't ever wanna do
anything like that again.

990
00:46:53,060 --> 00:46:55,187
So now that we're done with round one…

991
00:46:55,270 --> 00:46:57,773
[Amber] He's recently said
he wants to stop acting.

992
00:46:59,691 --> 00:47:00,901
It makes me sad.

993
00:47:02,152 --> 00:47:03,195
It makes me sad.

994
00:47:03,946 --> 00:47:05,405
[poignant music continues]

995
00:47:06,824 --> 00:47:09,743
[Johna] I couldn't protect Jentzen
from what was going on in The Squad.

996
00:47:10,369 --> 00:47:11,870
And I couldn't get him out.

997
00:47:12,371 --> 00:47:14,706
So I ended up filing for divorce

998
00:47:14,790 --> 00:47:17,626
so I could get legal custody of my son
and protect him.

999
00:47:17,709 --> 00:47:19,127
That was my thought process.

1000
00:47:20,379 --> 00:47:23,173
Tiffany was telling Jentzen,
"You need to emancipate."

1001
00:47:24,007 --> 00:47:25,467
That's where it started.

1002
00:47:26,385 --> 00:47:30,097
By the end of 2020,
Jentzen wouldn't really speak to me.

1003
00:47:30,597 --> 00:47:33,517
He wouldn't answer his phone calls.
He wouldn't answer his texts.

1004
00:47:34,017 --> 00:47:38,146
At one point, he told me
Tiffany was a better mom than me.

1005
00:47:40,607 --> 00:47:41,567
[sniffles]

1006
00:47:42,734 --> 00:47:44,236
[Hunter] Tiff, get in there. Get in.

1007
00:47:44,319 --> 00:47:46,405
-And watch this. Yeah!
-[kids cheering]

1008
00:47:46,488 --> 00:47:48,782
[Jenn] If you met Tiffany Smith today,

1009
00:47:48,866 --> 00:47:54,204
you would be like, "She is the nicest,
funniest, like, sweetest person."

1010
00:47:55,122 --> 00:47:57,165
I have so many fun memories with her.

1011
00:47:57,749 --> 00:47:59,084
It was all a facade.

1012
00:47:59,167 --> 00:48:01,461
Corinne's going home to Georgia.

1013
00:48:01,545 --> 00:48:04,715
I might be back there pretty soon,
but she's going home…

1014
00:48:04,798 --> 00:48:07,009
[Steevy] You know, you leave.
It's great. We're gone.

1015
00:48:07,092 --> 00:48:10,012
We don't have to deal with that.
We don't have to put our energy into that.

1016
00:48:10,512 --> 00:48:14,141
But kids, year after year,
are being put through this.

1017
00:48:14,224 --> 00:48:16,393
And then to hear from other kids,

1018
00:48:16,476 --> 00:48:20,230
"Yeah, this happened to me.
Yeah, this story happened to me."

1019
00:48:20,314 --> 00:48:21,982
And nobody ever does anything about it.

1020
00:48:22,482 --> 00:48:25,527
Most people and parents
just protect their kid and take them out.

1021
00:48:26,069 --> 00:48:28,989
Okay, so I'm feeling
just a tiny bit nervous.

1022
00:48:29,072 --> 00:48:30,490
Uh, I'm gonna be…

1023
00:48:30,574 --> 00:48:32,367
[Angela] Everyone is afraid
of retaliation.

1024
00:48:32,451 --> 00:48:37,623
Everyone is afraid of what she'll do,
not only to their kid, but personally.

1025
00:48:38,290 --> 00:48:41,960
I was scared. I got security cameras
put around my house.

1026
00:48:42,044 --> 00:48:44,421
[chatter, squealing on video]

1027
00:48:44,504 --> 00:48:47,799
[Johna] There was one point I felt like
she was really sending me a message.

1028
00:48:48,884 --> 00:48:50,385
She made a trip to Austin.

1029
00:48:50,886 --> 00:48:53,388
And there's a video of them
filming in my home in Austin.

1030
00:48:53,472 --> 00:48:55,515
And they go through
my entire house in Austin,

1031
00:48:55,599 --> 00:48:58,352
talking about everything in my house
and all my family photos.

1032
00:48:58,435 --> 00:49:00,020
[Hunter] Tiff, here we come!

1033
00:49:00,103 --> 00:49:01,021
Tiffany!

1034
00:49:01,104 --> 00:49:02,189
Oh, hi.

1035
00:49:02,272 --> 00:49:04,816
[Johna] And she's sitting
in my dining room table.

1036
00:49:04,900 --> 00:49:06,401
[tense, unsettling music playing]

1037
00:49:06,485 --> 00:49:07,694
And the message was,

1038
00:49:08,612 --> 00:49:09,863
"Now I'm in your house."

1039
00:49:09,947 --> 00:49:11,531
[music intensifies]

1040
00:49:14,076 --> 00:49:18,246
[Jenn] There is no strategy of having
a nice goodbye with Tiffany

1041
00:49:18,330 --> 00:49:20,582
because she's gonna take it all back

1042
00:49:20,666 --> 00:49:23,585
and put you down to nothing, if she can.

1043
00:49:23,669 --> 00:49:25,003
[tense music continues]

1044
00:49:25,087 --> 00:49:30,425
No one's gonna take anything away
from the Piper Rockelle kingdom and leave.

1045
00:49:32,636 --> 00:49:37,182
We all had a massive sense of relief

1046
00:49:37,265 --> 00:49:39,643
not going back to that house to film.

1047
00:49:39,726 --> 00:49:43,063
But we all knew the… the wrath was coming.

1048
00:49:44,231 --> 00:49:45,899
And when it did, it was…

1049
00:49:47,109 --> 00:49:48,193
it was really bad.

1050
00:49:48,276 --> 00:49:49,528
[glitch crackles]

1051
00:49:49,611 --> 00:49:51,530
[ominous music playing]

1052
00:49:51,613 --> 00:49:53,615
-[rising whir]
-[music intensifies]

1053
00:49:56,535 --> 00:49:58,537
[high-pitched ringing]

1054
00:50:16,638 --> 00:50:18,640
[music fades]

1055
00:50:24,521 --> 00:50:26,565
[gentle music playing]

1056
00:51:20,118 --> 00:51:21,995
[music fades]