Trans influencer Raegan Beast has accused YouTube “momager” Tiffany Smith of “forcing herself” on him when he was just 17.
The claim is part of a new Netflix documentary that includes allegations of sexual, emotional and physical abuse by Smith, which Smith denies.
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing highlights the world of child influencing. It focuses on Piper Rockelle, her group of child influencer friends, known as The Squad, and her mum and manager, Smith, who has been accused of abuse by several content creators.
Eleven teenage content creators filed a complaint against Smith in January 2022, alleging that they were “frequently subjected to an emotionally, physically, and sometimes sexually, abusive environment perpetrated by Ms Smith on and off set during filming sessions for Piper’s YouTube channel”.
Smith denied all the allegations and the case ended in October with a $1.85 million (£1.43 million) settlement, without any admission of wrongdoing on her part.
(@raeganbeast)In the new documentary, Beast, who has more than 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, said when he first met Smith he thought her to be a “very laid-back, fun, chill mom”. But she allegedly became “very curious” about his transition and would ask invasive questions about whether he would get gender-affirming surgery, which, he said, sometimes “hinted at being… sexual, a little inappropriate”.
Beast recalled that Smith had “no filter” when she was under the influence of alcohol and allegedly commented on how attractive she thought he would be when he was older.
Smith and Rockelle appeared on Beast’s livestream in 2017, with Smith and Beast drinking alcohol allegedly bought by the former.
Now 25, Beast claimed the single mother then “forced herself” on him.
Beast said they “were just sipping, reading comments, having a good time” and it started with “just [Smith’s] hand on the shoulder, then both hands massaging my back… rubbing my arm” before allegedly telling him “that I was hot”.
Smith then kissed Beast. “I remember laughing and being like: ‘I think we should end the stream’,” he said.
The influencer said he worried about the impact reporting the kiss to the authorities would have on his career, and instead distanced himself from Smith.
“I didn’t go to the police because I was very scared of the status of us being in the industry,” he said. “Either I was going to have this above my head in my career, or I was going to ruin Piper’s career.
“I also remember thinking: ‘If someone could erase this from the internet, then what else could they get away with’.”
In a statement given to People, Smith denied making any sexualised comments. “To be clear, Raegan Beast was never even part of Piper’s squad or the YouTube channel,” she said.
“Raegan was just an influencer in our circle at the time because he worked with the same manager as Piper.
“His character and persona were always, and still are, a bit of a provocateur, so I’m guessing that’s why his name got thrown into the mix. But, in reality, he had nothing to do with the show, and very little to do with us.”
She also rejected the claim that she had bought alcohol for minors, adding: “[I] certainly regret that stupid, silly kiss”.
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