By Gavin Boyle
A new Netflix documentary — BAD INFLUENCE: THE DARK SIDE OF KIDFLUENCING — reveals the dangers faced by child influencers as they oftentimes face abuse for the sake of profit and fame.
“A few of [the people we highlight] are adults, a few of them are minors,” co-director Jenna Rosher told The Hollywood Reporter. “We went into it trying to create a space where they felt safe and could be heard. And spending months building the trust and really earning the trust and providing support, training, anything that they needed in having to revisit these moments in their life.”
The documentary highlights a specific kidfluencer group led by “momager” Tiffany Smith. The group ended up garnering millions of followers, allowing them to land lucrative brand deals, but under the surface, abuse reigned.
In 2022, the families of many kids who were a part of the group filed a lawsuit against Smith citing emotional and sexual abuse at her hands, along with improper working conditions, lack of appropriate pay and grueling hours on set. The lawsuit has since been settled, with Smith paying out $1.8 million.
Related: Drake Bell Exposed Sexual Abuse on Set; Now His Life Is Changed for The Better
“I think that, so far, [Smith] has gotten off the hook,” said documentary co-director Kief Davidson. “She’s a very smart businesswoman in a lot of ways and knows how to work the system. I just hope at the end of the day that this documentary becomes a real conversation piece for families and their kids to at least know what to look out for.”
In many ways, this documentary exposes how the content creation scene impacts children in a similar way to last year’s QUIET ON SET exposé on children’s treatment in Hollywood. While many glamorize the lifestyle — and the fame and money that comes with it — most of the kids who are actually a part of it face extreme abuse. During QUIET ON SET, some of the biggest child stars recalled the abuse they faced while on set.
“The things that were happening to me were so – it’s a big word – but gruesome,” Drake Bell, one of the stars of DRAKE AND JOSH, told TODAY when recalling the abuse he faced at the hands of acting coach Brian Peck.
QUIET ON SET ended up changing how the public views child actors and helped them understand why so many child actors end up going off the deep end. Hopefully BAD INFLUENCE will have a similar effect and encourage parents reconsider turning their children into kidfluencers if they were thinking about going down that path.
Read Next: Kirk Cameron Says ‘God Has Exposed’ On-Set Predators Through QUIET ON SET
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