Child exploitation has been an issue since the 1900’s and is much larger today. Whether you had Bieber Fever or not, child exploitation was in front of us at a very young age. We’re taught that these things are normal and are left to believe that child stardom is a heaven when, in reality, the truth is grim. In some cases, such as Brooke Shields, Justin Bieber, and even some children mentioned in the Bad Influence documentary, their own family will sell them out, making trust extremely difficult.

What is Bad Influence about? 

Bad Influence is a Netflix 3-part documentary series about a young ex-pageant queen rising to stardom and the treatment of her popular group of content creators called “The Squad”. This group formed in 2018, making these kids around 11 years old, with the youngest being a 9-year-old. The members of The Squad would alternate once others left, but that didn’t stop them from facing challenges. Some of the estranged content included “crush” content in order to gain more views from an older audience. These content thumbnails portrayed the kids to have adult features using Photoshop and clothing. Tiffany Smith, the manager of the kids, has been in the news’s eye ever since 2020 when she reportedly robbed the members of The Squad from their earnings. However, recently, the rumors surrounding her have gotten worse.

 In 2020, Squad member Gavin Mangus came forward with his story. He was the first to publicly address it on YouTube, but he wasn’t taken seriously. This documentary covers mass manipulation, sexual abuse, and other forms of exploitation. Smith had a total of 11 known victims, with the youngest being her 9 year old niece. 

What else has Tiffany Smith done? 

Tiffany Smith’s boyfriend, Hunter Hill, was first introduced as Piper’s new stepbrother. Little did he know, he’d fall under Smith’s spell. Hill was a teenager when their relationship began, leading to the public’s first recognition of the pool of red flags.

Smith and Hill would form unusual relationships with Squad members. They’d use provocative language and offer up Hill for explicit acts with the girls. A drunk Smith would go on live, kissing a 17-year-old, Reagan Beast, twice. Smith would create the persona of “Lenny” (her dead cat) to act on her dark fantasies of children; however, she had another persona of “Frank the Pug”. Frank would mentally abuse and degrade the children. 

One member, Corrine, told her mother about Tiffany mailing out Piper’s clothing to an older fan under the name of “Megan”. Her mother then began to get involved, trying to protect the kids. “Megan”, an older man, would buy and send extravagant gifts in exchange for special photo shoot images. 

Where were the parents? 

As treatment had gotten worse and worse overtime, the parents of the kids weren’t allowed in the house, leading Tiffany to have complete control. The house was shared as parents helped pitch in for it, only for them to be isolated from their children. Jentzen’s mother was allegedly threatened by Tiffany to give up parental rights to her child for her son to maintain his fame. To keep the kids in her favor, Tiffany would form bonds with their fathers in the hopes of keeping them around.

Overall there is a lot more information to unpack with this documentary and with heavy hearts. 

Review 

Before watching, I didn’t know what to expect. The videos always had concerned comments on why the kids would have to appear more adult-like, so I thought that would be the biggest issue since the girls weren’t allowed to dress their age: they’d have to wear revealing clothing at only 11 and 12 years old. The documentary left a pit in my stomach and a chilling feeling because of how many other things probably happened that the others haven’t spoken about. I will never understand how someone can treat a child with such malicious intent. To understand the story more at large and to help de-normalize child exploitation, the documentary is a must-watch.

Just as the final scoop of information came out, a fine twist in events altered the media’s perception. Not only are social media users bashing Netflix, they are also outraged at the mothers, especially one in particular. 

The Twisted Aftermath 

The twisted aftermath is that just 4 days after the documentary was released on Netflix, Jentzen released a statement calling out the lies on TikTok. His mother, Jonha Rameriez, claimed to have lost her son because of Smith; however, he claims that he left The Squad before he chose to cut ties. He divulged that his mother was entitled, claiming a 50% commission off of all his profits. Jonha would take money out of his account for her, and this is proven by past bank statements. He also stated that he did not give consent to even be featured in this documentary. Netflix is under fire as multiple Squad members actually declined to speak in the documentary but were still featured. What more will come, especially after considering that some lies and ethical guidelines were dismissed? Are there more stories to come? It can certainly be expected, but don’t be surprised if another twist we weren’t expecting comes to light. 

References

• Mangus, G. (Ed.). (n.d.). the TRUTH about our breakup. YouTube. https://youtu.be/vZZ3qujoraY?si=MoJubdL5z8kKgJJN 
• Ramirez, J. (n.d.). The Truth.. My response to the documentary. YouTube. https://youtu.be/5J7aEzY2QhA?si=n8y6kuxVsuO7idH0 
• Rosher, J., & Davidson, K. (2025, April 9). Piper Rockelle and The Squad Kidfluencer Documentary: Release Date, Trailer, What to Know. Netflix. Retrieved April 17, 2025, from https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/bad-influence-the-dark-side-of-kidfluencing-release-date-news