The Never-Ending ‘Dancing for the Devil’ Saga Is Getting Weird
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On Netflix, the three-part docuseries Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult aired at the end of May. But in the real world, the series just keeps going.
In the latest installment, Miranda Wilking Derrick, its apparently unwitting subject who may or may not be in a cult, took to Instagram Monday to blast those behind the series. In a video message delivered from the edge of her bed, Derrick pleads with the public to leave her and her husband, fellow maybe cult member James “B-Dash” Derrick, alone.
“Since this documentary came out, we feel like our lives have been put in danger,” she said.
Derrick’s message was the second time she has addressed the series, which Netflix released on May 29. The series alleges, among other things, that Derrick and her husband, professional dancers who moved to Los Angeles to try to make it big in the industry, fell under the spell of Robert Shinn and his controversial Shekinah Church, where he serves as pastor. Shinn, with the help of his son, Isaiah, met the Derricks and many other LA-area-dancers-slash-TikTok influencers and created a management company, 7M, to help them make money from their content creation.
But Derrick’s parents and sister, fellow dancer-slash-influencer Melanie Wilking, allege that Shinn is instead running a secretive cult, brainwashing their daughter and others into his warped version of Christianity and keeping them in his control by managing their careers. The story first broke on social media in 2022, when the Wilkings released an emotional video on Instagram alleging that ever since Derrick met her husband and signed with Shinn, she had cut herself off from them and from everyone else in her former life.
The documentary goes deeper than just the story of the dancers. Former members of Shinn’s church allege that he engaged in intimidation and isolation tactics. A lawsuit filed by former members accuses him of sexual battery, fraud, forced labor, and human trafficking. But it is the Wilking sisters who have captured the public’s imagination, and whose story has become like one unending reality show.
Content retrieved from: https://www.glamour.com/story/the-never-ending-dancing-for-the-devil-saga-is-getting-weird.
