The Insane True Story Behind Netflix’s ‘Dancing For The Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult’

Netflix’s new three-episode sequence, Dancing for the Satan: The 7M TikTok Cult, exposes the alleged cult-like atmosphere surrounding TikTok dancers signed to 7M Movies. Whereas watching the docuseries, you might need questions on what occurred, together with who’s Robert Shinn and the place Miranda Wilking is now.

Dancing for the Satan facilities on Miranda Wilking, a dancer and content material creator who had a well-liked TikTok channel along with her sister, Melanie, referred to as the Wilking Sisters. Due to their common dancing movies, the siblings gathered thousands and thousands of followers and profitable model offers.

Miranda began rising distant from her household after being launched to her now-husband James (BDash) Derrick and signing with Los Angeles-based 7M Movies, a expertise administration company owned by Robert Shinn, a pastor on the Shekinah Church. (In 2022, 7M Movies launched an announcement that it “function(d) individually and aside” from Shekinah Church.)

Beneath completely choreographed TikTok movies, lavish Hollywood properties, crimson carpet appearances, and acting on The Ellen DeGeneres Present, dancers in 7M had been chopping off their households, reportedly brainwashed and influenced by the spiritual chief. “Each former 7M workers and church members have accused Shinn of controlling conduct,” in accordance with Netflix’s Tudum.

In Dancing for the Satan, Miranda’s sister, Melanie, and their mother and father, Kelly and Dean, dive into what it was like shedding Miranda and their determined makes an attempt to re-establish contact along with her. On February 24, 2022, they launched an Instagram video speculating that 7M was a cult and that Miranda was being manipulated. The Netflix documentary additionally options testimonies of different dancers who’ve since left 7M Movies and at the moment are attempting to get justice towards Shinn, together with Konkrete, Kailea Grey, and Kylie Douglas.

“My hope is that folks will proceed to dig into the story and ask questions—a few of the questions that you just’re even asking—in hopes to reunite these households,” govt producer Jessica Acevedo instructed Glamour.

She continued, “To convey justice to folks, whereas additionally possibly even having just a little extra persistence and understanding of the place individuals are. I feel we’re actually fast to need to label folks and put them in these little bins and classes when it’s not a one dimension suits all. Let’s have some grace, let’s have some persistence and be understanding.”

Who Is Robert Shinn, And What Occurred To Him?

Robert Shinn is an LA pastor on the Shekinah Church in Los Angeles, California, who additionally based the 7M Movies expertise administration firm. Shinn began Shekinah as a non secular neighborhood for Korean People. Two of these Korean immigrants had been Melanie Lee and her sister Priscylla, who each joined in 1999. They lived in a home with the opposite church members till Melanie left, inflicting her to lose contact along with her sister for a decade.

“There have been possibly 15 folks, and that included his household and his sister Catherine’s household,” Lee explains within the sequence. She mentioned that Robert and Catherine “promised” her and Priscylla all the love the 2 of them “by no means actually skilled.” In line with Time.com, “Shinn opened a number of companies, together with a café, two mortgage corporations, two actual property corporations, and two flower retailers.” Lee mentioned that the workers had been church members who weren’t paid a lot.

Shinn — whose son, Isaiah Shinn, was filming the Derricks’ content material — began 7M Movies in 2021 and signed a bunch of profitable dancers on social media, together with Miranda and her husband James Derrick. The dancers within the company lived collectively in a home to create their content material, which had a give attention to fashionable choreography to outdated hits — together with some songs that had been particularly chosen by Shinn.

In line with CNN, Shinn filed a lawsuit in 2022 claiming defamation and commerce libel towards a number of former church members, together with the Lee sisters, alleging the defendants made “false statements” by calling Shinn’s organizations a cult and launched a marketing campaign to “cancel” Shinn “by flagrant, defamatory assaults on social and different media.”

In 2023, Davis, Fisher, Douglas, and others joined a cross-complaint with the previous church members towards Shinn, his spouse, their entities and different affiliated people. “The claims accuse them of fraud, compelled labor and human trafficking, in addition to Robert of sexual battery. The case is scheduled to go to trial in July 2025 in Los Angeles; so far, no felony expenses have been filed,” per CNN.

No felony expenses have been filed towards Shinn.

Why Did 7M Members Have To Reduce Off Their Households?

In line with interviews from former 7M members and audio recordings of Shinn’s sermons, 7M members had been requested to “die to” themselves and their households. This implies fully chopping contact with them to make sure that they and their family members go to heaven within the afterlife.

“Dying to your self signifies that no matter you need or no matter you want, it’s a must to ‘die to it,’ as a result of everytime you die to one thing, it’ll come again to life and resurrect,” one former member defined in Dancing for the Satan.

One other former 7M dancer mentioned that they had been taught to “die to your loved ones so as to save them,” and heighten their probabilities into “moving into heaven sooner or later.”

The place Is Miranda Wilking Now?

Miranda Wilking, who goes by Miranda Derrick, remains to be a member of 7M Movies and often posts dancing movies on social media. She and her household communicate to one another sometimes, underneath the situation that they aren’t allowed to ask or discuss 7M or the Shekinah Church.

Miranda has posted a number of footage along with her household on Instagram, together with a latest photograph at Melanie’s wedding ceremony, a video along with her mother for Mom’s Day in 2024, and one other video dancing along with her mother and sister in April.

The docuseries alleges that these posts are primarily for present and that Miranda remains to be near Shinn. In the meantime, Melanie referred to as her interactions with Miranda “superficial” and mentioned they had been orchestrated for her sister’s social media presence.

“I’m not held towards my will and I’ve by no means been a hostage,” Miranda mentioned in a public assertion in regards to the allegations that she is in a cult. “I am going to church and I think about God. If sooner or later I want to pursue my religion elsewhere, I’ll and really feel fully free to do this. So far as my profession, my time at 7M Movies has been one of the vital thrilling years ever and if sooner or later I want to associate with a distinct administration firm or begin my very own firm, I’ll.”

Dancing for the Satan: The 7M TikTok Cult is streaming on Netflix.