- - Piper Rockelle Admits That Growing Up Online Has Made It Impossible to 'Trust Anybody' (Exclusive)

Luke ChinmanJanuary 17, 2026 at 3:45 AM

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Piper Rockelle/Instagram

Piper Rockelle -

Piper Rockelle, a former child YouTuber, sits down with PEOPLE to discuss growing up in the spotlight and her recent OnlyFans debut

The internet star first rose to fame at only 8 years old when her mom started sharing videos of her on YouTube

“I don’t think anyone takes my relationships or my friendships seriously, so I just don’t take most of them seriously either,” Rockelle candidly admits

Piper Rockelle is reflecting on her childhood in the spotlight.

For the 18-year-old internet star, life online is all she’s ever known: When she was 8, her mom, Tiffany Smith, started sharing videos of her on YouTube, and she quickly rose to fame as a part of the “Piper Squad,” a group of tween content creators who made videos together.

But fast forward to 2022, and their media empire came crashing down when 11 of the participating teens brought a lawsuit against Smith, alleging that they weren’t compensated for their time collaborating with Piper and were subject to "inappropriate, offensive and abusive treatment," including "wildly offensive and sexually explicit comments."

Though Smith denied all allegations and settled the lawsuit in October 2024 for nearly $2 million with all parties, specifically disclaiming any liability, the controversy was reignited in April 2025 when Netflix premiered its docuseries Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, detailing the allegations made against Rockelle’s mother during her early years on the internet.

Close to a year after the docuseries’ release — and only months after her milestone 18th birthday — PEOPLE sat down with Rockelle for a wide-ranging conversation about her life now, her controversial decision to start an OnlyFans account and the state of her relationships with her inner circle.

Piper Rockelle/Instagram

Piper Rockelle

On Jan. 1, after teasing her followers for weeks, she did what many online speculated she would long before she was even of age: She opened her OnlyFans. And in the months before she made the move official, she tells PEOPLE, she couldn’t “talk about anything else.”

Rockelle knew the decision would spark immediate backlash — she’s been criticized for valorizing the life of an adult content creator for her audience, which she acknowledges includes “a lot of younger kids” — but she says she “didn’t really care.”

“I thrive off of the hate,” she says, plainly. “Honestly, I think hate has kept me around for a long, long, long time. I think, without it, I would have become a little bit irrelevant.”

Controversial or not, the move was incredibly lucrative: According to screenshots she shared to X less than 24 hours after her account opened, she earned close to $3 million in the first day alone. (She tells PEOPLE her first purchase with her earnings was a new car for her grandma.)

Still, it’s a lot of noise, but when asked who she has to lean on when she’s getting heat online, Rockelle is adamant that she doesn’t “trust anybody.”

“Each time I do trust someone, it just proves another reason why I shouldn’t,” she says. “Unfortunately, humans, they can’t help but lie, they can’t help but cheat. It’s human nature and there’s not much you can do about it.”

Rockelle continues, “I’m cool with what I have. I don’t think anyone takes my relationships or my friendships seriously, so I just don’t take most of them seriously either.”

Piper Rockelle/Instagram

Piper Rockelle

It’s certainly a sacrifice, trading the ability to develop friendships without worry that someone might, for instance, make a TikTok about your latest conversation, but it’s one that Rockelle says she accepts willingly.

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“This is all I've ever wanted, so I'm not gonna let anyone take it away from me,” she says.

“There's been moments where I'm like, ‘Yep, this is it. I'm done. I'm leaving forever. I'm not coming back on the internet,’ ” she goes on. “You know how you can't quit an addiction unless you're actually ready? This isn't an addiction, but it is something that has literally made me who I am today. So, yeah, I'm not gonna just let go of it.”

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”