Everything That’s Happened Since Dancing For The Devil Dropped On Netflix

via Netflix

Dancing For The Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult landed on Netflix last week – and has since generated a lot of chat online.

The three-part series details the actions of a talent management company, 7M Films, set up by pastor Robert Shinn in Los Angeles. Shinn has been accused of running a cult made up of TikTok dancers and performers, off the back of the Shekinah Church.

The series largely focuses on Miranda Derrick, a TikTok dancer who has amassed over 1.7 million followers on Instagram. Miranda split from her family TikTok after joining 7M Films, and has since has minimal contact with her sister and parents.

Her family say that Miranda began distancing herself after she met her now husband, James (BDash) Derrick, a dancer who is also signed to the agency. In the series, they say that Miranda missed her grandfather’s funeral, didn’t inform them of her wedding, and has blocked them across multiple social media platforms.

The docu-series also features stories from former ‘cult’ members, who claim that the Shekinah Church financially abuses its members, encourages them to cut ties with family members, and to donate up to 70% of their profits to Shinn.

Some former members, including Priscylla Lee who was a member of the church for 23 years, has also accused Shinn of sexual assault, allegations he previously denied.

via Netflix

Miranda has since responded to the allegations made in the documentary, particularly around those pertaining to her wellbeing.

On Instagram, she said that she had seen the documentary and that she believes it to be “one-sided.”

“I want to start by saying that I appreciate the concern that has been expressed for my well-being. Due to pending litigation, in which I am a plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit, it’s not appropriate for me to comment on specific allegations. Though I will state that I do not condone abuse in any way,” she said.

“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 I wanted to take with God.”

Miranda went on to say that although her family will always be in her life, they often “don’t see eye to eye.” She also said that she chose not to attend her grandfather’s funeral because she felt “threatened” by her family.

She said: “I am just a woman trying to live my life. I am not a victim, I am not in any harm, I am not being abused. I’ve never asked my family or anyone else to ‘help’ me in any way. Respectfully, what I choose to do with my life is up to me.”

via Instagram / mirandaderrick

Miranda’s sister Melanie has responded to Miranda’s claims, telling Access Hollywood that her family’s “guard was up” after they discovered she was in an alleged cult, not because of her religious beliefs.

“I went to two of their private dinners and two of the services that you have to be invited to, and I picked up on all these red flags,” she said.

“So when she’s saying that we weren’t supportive, it was because I was seeing what she wasn’t seeing. I was seeing that they wanted to, because I wasn’t going anymore, they wanted to rip us apart. And sure enough look where we are.”

Melanie added that Miranda and husband James were invited to take part in the series, but declined multiple times.

7m Films have also responded to the allegations, dubbing the documentary “a slanderous work of fiction, born from a failed extortion attempt, and invented for the sole purpose of gaining fame and fortune.”

The company accused the dancers who appear in the series of conducting a “smear campaign” against Shinn, and claimed that “Netflix recklessly provided a global platform to peddle a false narrative that is at the center of ongoing litigation.”

As it stands, no criminal charges have been held against Shinn.

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