Current:Home > reviewsMiranda Derrick says Netflix 'Dancing for the Devil' cult docuseries put her 'in danger' -Capitatum
Miranda Derrick says Netflix 'Dancing for the Devil' cult docuseries put her 'in danger'
Ethermac View
Date:2025-04-10 05:32:00
TikTok creator Miranda Derrick is voicing concerns for her safety following her family's involvement in Netflix's "Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult."
The docuseries, which premiered on May 29, centers on TikTok talent management company 7M Films and the Shekinah Church. It includes interviews with former 7M clients who allege that both the company and church are a cult. The film also accuses company and church founder Robert Shinn of exploitation, brainwashing, and several forms of abuse, allegations he has previously denied in court documents, per CNN and The Daily Beast.
Derrick, one of the show's subjects who signed with 7M Films, said in an emotional video shared to Instagram Monday that she and her husband James Derrick "feel like our lives have been put in danger."
"We have both been followed in our cars, we have received hate mail, death threats, people have been sending us messages to commit suicide, and we’ve been stalked," she alleged, following up with screenshots of threatening messages she's received.
Derrick and her sister, Melanie Wilking, previously posted short dance routines through their joint social media account, called the Wilking Sisters, on TikTok and Instagram, amassing millions of followers together before they each went solo.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
"I don't understand how my parents and my sister thought that this documentary would help me or our relationship in any way," Derrick continued.
The docuseries concludes that Derrick and her family have been mending their relationship, although the dancer said that has since changed.
"I have been getting together with my family for the past couple of years, privately, to work on our relationship, to make things right, to mend what has been broken. I've been loving getting together, laughing, just enjoying each other’s company. And this documentary has made it very difficult to continue doing that," she said.
Derrick concluded her video by promising to return to make more content as she "sees the light at the end of the tunnel."
Not 'brainwashed':Miranda Derrick hits back after portrayal in 'Dancing for the Devil'
Derrick says family rejects her embracing religion
In early 2022, Derrick's parents and sister posted a video claiming that the company "brainwashed" her into ending communication.
In an Instagram story posted on June 5, Derrick said that while pending litigation prevents her from addressing specific allegations, she wanted to share her side of the story.
"I love my Mom, Dad and Melanie and they will forever be a part of my life," she wrote. "The truth is, we just don't see eye to eye this time."
The internet dancer claimed that her sister logged Derrick out of the Wilking Sisters account and denied her requests for access, leaving her "no choice but to start my own career."
Derrick said that since she began embracing religion by going to church twice a week, her non-religious parents and sister accused her of being part of a "cult."
"I gave my life to Jesus Christ in 2020 and asked my family for some space in the very beginning to collect my thoughts and process my new walk," Derrick said. "My family didn't honor the space I asked for and I saw a different side of them I've never seen before. Honestly, it made me mad, frustrated and annoyed that they were being so overbearing and chaotic."
Derrick recalled visiting their hospitalized grandfather in 2020 the day he passed away and that Wilking became offended and angry when she began praying during the car ride there. She added that she chose not attend his funeral in Michigan out of fear her parents would stop her from going home in Los Angeles.
"I have been getting together with them over the past couple years to make amends, move on and work things out as a family. This documentary has created a further challenge between us as I work to overcome this public attack," Derrick said. "No one likes to be portrayed as their brainwashed/not in control of her own life/shell of herself/ human trafficked daughter/sister when that just isn't the truth."
Join our Watch Party!Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox
Melanie doubts sister Miranda saw the docuseries
In an interview with Glamour on June 6, Wilking said she doubts Derrick actually watched the docuseries based off her statement.
"I feel it is very clear that she did not watch it because it’s so much bigger than just our family situation," Wilking said. "It goes so much deeper into that and if you watch the documentary, you would know that. So it’s very sad to me, it was very sad when I read that. And it’s like, I do not believe that she watched it."
7M calls 'Dancing for the Devil' series 'a slanderous work of fiction'
In a statement to USA TODAY, 7M Films called the Netflix "a slanderous work of fiction, born from a failed extortion attempt, and invented for the sole purpose of gaining fame and fortune."
Contributing: Emily DeLetter
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case reaches 'impasse' over NIL information for CU star
- Woman killed by crossbow in western NY, and her boyfriend is charged with murder
- Don't underestimate the power of Dad TV: 'Reacher' is the genre at its best
- Nigeria’s Supreme Court reinstates terrorism charges against separatist leader
- Breaking debut in Olympics raises question: Are breakers artists or athletes?
- Donald Trump says LIV Golf is headed back to his Doral course in April
- Village council member in Ukraine sets off hand grenades during a meeting and injures 26
- Frankie Muniz says he's never had a sip of alcohol: 'I don't have a reason'
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- What econ says in the shadows
Ranking
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- One fourth of United Methodist churches in US have left in schism over LGBTQ ban. What happens now?
- Cambodia welcomes the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s plan to return looted antiquities
- World's biggest iceberg, A23a, weighs in at almost 1 trillion tons, scientists say, citing new data
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Matthew Perry Was Reportedly Clean for 19 Months Before His Death
- Chile arrests 55 people in a $275 million tax fraud case that officials call the country’s biggest
- South Korea scrambles jets as China and Russia fly warplanes into its air defense zone
Recommendation
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
No charges for Mississippi police officer who shot unarmed 11-year-old Aderrien Murry
Israeli strike on school kills Al Jazeera cameraman in southern Gaza, network says
How Eagles' Christmas album morphed from wild idea to hit record
Paris Olympics live updates: Quincy Hall wins 400m thriller; USA women's hoops in action
Woman killed by crossbow in western NY, and her boyfriend is charged with murder
Tiger Woods and son get another crack at PNC Championship. Woods jokingly calls it the 5th major
No room at the inn? As holidays approach, migrants face eviction from New York City shelters