For most teenagers, turning 18 means a fresh ID, a few new freedoms, and the legal right to say, technically, they are an adult now. For Piper Rockelle, it meant something far heavier — the end of a chapter she says she barely made it through.
“I wanted to be 18 so freaking bad,” the former YouTube child star told Creators Inc. founder Andy Bachman during the June 29 episode of his podcast. “I was just going through years since I was 14 years old of just horrible things happening.”
According to Rockelle, part of that included CPS being called on her "at least 10 times." She didn't detail the specific reports, but claimed they came from "people, fans, all of these people" as her life as a minor online became a heavily discussed subject. Once a call was made, she explained, officials still had to follow protocol.
“They would come and be like, ‘Oh, it’s Piper again,’” she recalled, adding that they would talk to her and eventually say, “‘Okay, well, see you next week.’”
The repeated visits left her counting down the days until she could legally leave that part of her life behind. "It was the best day when I turned 18," she said. "I was like, yes, I'm so happy. That whole part of my life was over with. It was horrifying."
Rockelle rose to fame through her family-run YouTube channel and the Piper Squad, a group of young creators known for pranks, challenges and dating skits. That era later became the subject of Netflix's 2025 docuseries Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, which centered on a lawsuit former Squad members brought against her mother. Rockelle has consistently defended her mom and maintains she witnessed no wrongdoing.
When the conversation turned to the fallout from those years, she didn't sugarcoat how “low” it took her. "I definitely did not think I was going to make it," Rockelle told Bachman. "I didn't think I was going to make it to 18 years old."
She credited a handful of lifelines for pulling her through, among them streaming, someone close to her and the daily routine of caring for the cats at her family's rescue. "You could just put your phone away and just deal with the animals and forget about everything for just a second," she said. "It was just beautiful."
The comments build on conversations Rockelle has had before. Earlier this year, she became emotional during an IMPACT x Nightline interview while discussing her mother and the scrutiny surrounding her family. She has also spoken publicly about struggling with eating during one of the hardest periods of her life, telling The Guardian that parts of her success still feel "like it's a game."
Looking back now, Rockelle said she's trying to hold onto one lesson from everything she lived through.
"Everything happens for a reason," she said.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or visit 988lifeline.org.
