Not 'brainwashed': Miranda Derrick hits back after portrayal in 'Dancing for the Devil'
TikTok creator Miranda Derrick is denying claims from her family that she's in a cult following the release of Netflix's "Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult."
The documentary, which premiered last week, 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 and in a company statement to the Daily Beast in 2022.
Derrick, one of the show's subjects who signed with 7M Films, has called the documentary one-sided.
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In early 2022, Derrick's parents and sister posted a video claiming that the company "brainwashed" her into ending communication. 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.
In an Instagram story posted late Wednesday, 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."
Here's what we know.
Derrick says family rejects her embracing religion
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."
The internet dancer shared 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 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."
Melanie doubts Miranda saw the documentary
In an interview with Glamour on Wednesday, Wilking said she doubts Derrick actually watched the documentary 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."
She said that Derrick and her husband attended her May 25 wedding with NFL player Austin Ekeler in Las Vegas and that the sisters' "interactions were very positive."
"I'm glad we can share that memory together," she said.
7M calls 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."
The company accused Melanie Lee Goldman and Elisha Priscylla Leigh of running a "concerted smear campaign" two years ago against Shinn, his family, and his business associates after Shinn did not "capitulate to Ms. Leigh’s extortion demands."
"Despite sworn statements from co-conspirators that confirm the scheme by Ms. Goldman and Ms. Leigh to disseminate widespread lies, Netflix recklessly provided a global platform to peddle a false narrative that is at the center of ongoing litigation," the statement states. "We will continue to pursue all legal remedies available to stop the spread of salacious lies and expect to be fully vindicated in court."
Shinn accuses former 7M members of defaming him.
In 2022, Shinn filed a defamation lawsuit against several 7M members, accusing them of claiming defamation and trade libel for making "false statements" that his organizations were a cult and for making "flagrant, defamatory attacks on social and other media," according to CNN.
In March 2023, Aubrey Fisher-Greene, Kylie Douglas, Kevin “Konkrete” Davis and others filed a cross-complaint accusing Shinn of running a "cult" and taking advantage of his followers.
In the cross-complaint, Shinn was alleged to have exercised control over the lives of his church members in various ways, from financial to health-related and more.
The Los Angeles-based talent management company represents "some of the top social media influencers in the world" according to the 7M website. The social media following of its clients, which range from professional dancers, actors, models and music industry professionals, has grown from 1.78 million to 10.42 million since it was founded in 2021, the company says.
Contributing: Emily DeLetter
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miranda Derrick slams portrayal in Netflix's 'Dancing for the Devil'
