Bad Influence The Dark Side of Kidfluencing Recap for #unfollow

 

The final episode of Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing is titled #unfollow and opens with Ashley and Patience, as well as Angela, talking about how Piper and the remaining members of The Squad made a video shaming those who left and accused them of being toxic. They would unfollow all of them on social media, leading to the former members being cyberbullied by fans and Tiffany herself.

The parents can see that the kids were being coached to make this video, but there was no way to stop it.

Angela was trying to figure out what happened to Sawyer’s channel after he left The Squad. A lot of the fallout happened before everyone knew he left, so they believed Tiffany was behind it, as did Ashley,Patience and Jenn (Walker’s mom). They finally got in touch with Matt Sarelson, who explained that Tiffany and Hunter had the power to make this happen and get the former members blacklisted by shutting off notifications and trying to get the accounts flagged

. Even if the password was changed, they would try and get back in and even want as far as to embed the videos to porn and gambling sites.

Sawyer says everything is tarnished with his channel and may never recover.

A civil lawsuit was filed against Tiffany and Hunter. Jeremiah Graham talks about working on the case and questioning the kids, only to find out that things were darker and more shocking than they could have ever imagined.

Jeremiah talks to the parents about what the kids told him and Matt. They are left shocked and disturbed about the sexual and mental abuse that the kids faced. Corrine talks about being asked about blow jobs and Piper telling her to stop when Tiffany offered to show her how to do one on Hunter.

Tiffany would also use her dead cat Lenny as an outlet for her sexual personality, even going on top of some of the members.

The parents cry over how they had no idea that any of this was happening.

Reese talks about sexual abuse she faced via Tiffany, as do Claire and Sophie…..with them saying some of it was so bad they couldn’t even say what happened on camera. They all wish they told their moms what was happening, especially when they saw it also happen to Piper.

Sarah Adams of Mom.Uncharted went to social media to expose Tiffany when the lawsuit dropped. A lot of the stuff she posted caused a lot of backlash for the parents who were told that they should have been paying more attention to their kids. Jenn says she knows it was wrong, but the situation was so complex.

Connor’s mom Amber chimes in, saying that they were watched like hawks and manipulated, saying it was like being in a cult.

After the lawsuit went public, several of the kids were targeted and accused of lying. This caused them to come together and give other kids voices so they can get the protection they never had.

Hunter gave his own deposition and denied any of the allegations against Tiffany. This caused him to lose the respect of the former members of The Squad and they think he was being controlled by Tiffany and used the drama to his advantage to get better content.

Tiffany was also attacked by the media, but Piper set them straight, saying her mom is her biggest supporter.

Another influencer named Axel talks about meeting Tiffany and Piper. They’d make content together with the cats and he would notice a change in Piper’s personality, noticing that she would get so depressed. He noticed she was brainwashed against Tiffany and told that the former members of The Squad were jealous and evil.

The lawsuit would cause Piper’s YouTube account to get demonetized, causing her to lose money fast. This only happens when an account is considered to be super controversial. She would also use sponsorships and brand deals.

Tiffany began to look into other avenues for Piper, including Brand Army and Snapchat. The former allows adult to subscribe to content made by minors.

This is a disturbing way to exploit kids, especially since the parents’ consent to it. People who know Piper wonder if she even has a say in this or even wants to make these provocative videos.

Axel describes some of the stuff he saw Tiffany force Piper to do and how bad it got when she was in Brand Army mode.

The FBI also got involved after the lawsuit to talk to the kids and their parents about what they said about Tiffany. However, it didn’t go far and they haven’t heard from them since the initial contact. The parents believe that social media laws aren’t being taken seriously when it comes to posting regulations, leaving little hope for the kids.

Cris McCarty, founder of Quit Clicking Kids, is using her platform to protect kids in child influencing. It started as her senior year project and soon became a way of her stopping at nothing to protect minors who are being exploited online as influencers. She talks about Coogan Laws for child actors to protect them financially. She hopes Quit Clicking Kids can do the same. Several states are also trying to do the same. Cris also wants them to have other protections and education while they work.

However, since it is happening at home, it is hard to figure out how to protect the kids. They all hope that there is a way to take attention away from these accounts.

Several of the kids are anti-social media and YouTube after what they went through.

In June 2024, the parents got a settlement. This was upsetting since Tiffany is still getting away with her bad behavior, but they are happy that they were able to get the word out and will stop at nothing to continue to expose Tiffany.

Tiffany and Piper are still making content and recruiting others into their world.

The lawyers and parents consider Piper a victim and realize she may not even know she is a victim. They see the change in her as she is older and more videos are made, saying that the small pageant girl no longer looks happy. They want people to see that Piper is a real person with real emotions and needs to be protected.

 

Everyone wants Piper to know they love her and will always be there for her despite what happened.

Tiffany and Hunter continue to deny all allegations against them and no criminal charges have been filed.

The settlement was for 1.85 million dollars to be split among the eleven plaintiffs.