ALLEGATIONS

7M Dance Influencer Miranda Derrick Feels Her Life Has Been “Put in Danger” After Netflix Docuseries

In an Instagram video, Derrick says that since the release of Netflix’s Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, she and her husband have received hate mail, online harassment, and death threats.
Miranda Derrick attends the 65th Grammy Awards on February 5 2023 in Los Angeles California.
Miranda Derrick attends the 65th Grammy Awards on February 5, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Miranda Derrick, a 7M dance influencer and Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult subject, is again speaking out about the Netflix docuseries and its effect on her and her husband: “We feel like our lives have been put in danger,” she says in a video posted recently on Instagram.

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This is the second Instagram response Derrick has issued to the three-part Netflix docuseries directed by Derek Doneen, which premiered May 29. Although Derrick did not participate in the docuseries, Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult heavily features her and her husband, James Derrick. In the series, Miranda Derrick’s parents and sister, Melanie Wilking, allege that Derrick severed ties with their family after getting deeply involved with Robert Shinn; his talent management company, 7M; and the Shekinah Church, where Shinn serves as a pastor. Per a recent streaming-ratings report cited by Variety, Dancing for the Devil was viewed by an estimated 4.4 million people between May 31 and June 6.

Last week, as reported by People, Derrick released a statement on Instagram Stories to her 1.7 million followers, accusing Doneen’s Netflix doc of being “one-sided” and misrepresenting her involvement with 7M and the Shekinah Church. “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,” she wrote. In a statement to Us Weekly, Doneen said that he had invited Derrick to participate in the doc several times. “My hope is that Miranda will watch this and she will see that it was all done out of love,” said Doneen. “The experience that we both had with that family was absolutely coming from a place of love and desperation. Of course they expressed fear about how she would take it, and I think that is ongoing.”

In her latest Instagram video, Derrick sits alone in a bedroom and directly addresses the camera, sharing how she feels about the docuseries. “Before this documentary, my husband and I, we felt safe,” says Derrick in the video. “Now that this documentary is out, we 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. We’ve been stalked.”

She then describes in detail some of the specific threats she’s allegedly received, complete with alleged screenshots. “Someone said that, if I see you on the street, I’m gonna come and gut you, so you better get security,” she says. “Someone also said that, if I see you walking on the sidewalk, I’m gonna come and shove you in the trunk of my car.”

Derrick also calls out her parents and sister for appearing in the docuseries. “I don’t understand how my parents and my sister thought that this documentary would help me or would help our relationship in any way,” Derrick says. According to Variety, Dancing for the Devil ends by suggesting that Derrick and her family have been working toward reconciliation and are in communication again. Derrick confirms this in her Instagram video, but goes on to suggest that her family’s participation in the docuseries has come at the expense of that healing work.

“I have been getting together with my family for the past couple years, privately, to work on our relationship, to make things right, to mend what has been broken,” Derrick says. “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 goes on to accuse her family of caring more about the documentary than their relationship with her, which “hurts,” she says.

Derrick ends her video on a lighter note. “I’m getting through this. I see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she says. She then apologizes to her followers for not posting as much in the wake of the documentary, but promises that she’s “gonna get back to posting and dancing and doing what I just absolutely love,” adding, “It just brings me so much joy, so I do wanna get back to that.” She concludes by thanking her supporters for their love, support, and kind messages.

A spokesperson for Netflix told Vanity Fair the streamer had no comment on Derrick’s latest remarks.

In Dancing for the Devil, Shinn is accused of running a cult via the Shekinah Church and 7M talent management. He’s also accused of sexual assault by multiple women in the documentary. The documentary ends with the following disclaimer: “No criminal charges have been brought against Shinn. He has previously denied sexually abusing any member of Shekinah or any client of 7M.” In a statement posted on its official Instagram page and sent to Vanity Fair, 7M denied the allegations raised against Shinn and the company in the documentary, calling the Netflix project “a slanderous work of fiction” and threatening legal action. A civil lawsuit against Shinn, 7M, Shekinah, and others, filed by former dancers and members of Shekinah, is ongoing.