One of the pitfalls of the social media obsessed world we live in is that when things get messy, the whole world is watching. For popular TikTok dancers, Miranda and James Derrick, a family rift and abuse allegations against 7M Films, a controversial management company, have led to a stain on their reputation and the Netflix docuseries, “Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult.”
According to TODAY, 7M Films, Shekinah Church, as well as 7M CEO/church pastor Robert Shinn are among the co-defendants in a March 2023 civil lawsuit alleging “Shinn and other defendants subjected people ‘to brainwashing, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, manipulation, and exploitation.’”
“Shekinah is a cult,” the lawsuit states. “A cult that engages in egregious and despicable illegal behavior.”
The docuseries features heartbreaking stories from other dancers who recall their experiences with 7M. A central focus of the three episode project is Miranda’s family, the Wilkings, who detail how their daughter went from posting videos with her sister to being involved with 7M.
According to PEOPLE, back in February 2022, the Wilkings revealed on Instagram Live that Miranda and James had cut off communication with the family, alleging that their daughter was in “a cult.” In response, Miranda posted a since-deleted TikTok video where she explained that they weren’t speaking to her parents because they called the police on her and James when they moved in together.
“When I left, [my parents] decided to call the cops on James. Saying that my Black boyfriend James kidnapped and abused me,” she said.
In his own statement, James relayed how Miranda’s father, Dean, “called the cops on him and accused him of domestic violence and kidnapping.”
“It started with a white beautiful woman moving in with a poor Black man from Compton that the parents did not approve of,” he wrote. “I get it! I was renting a room and had no car. I was a divorced man with a son.”
The lawsuit and the docuseries raise some very serious questions about 7M and Shekinah Church. However, it seems like it’s also possible that Miranda was less involved with her family because they didn’t approve of her boyfriend. As one of the focuses of the doc, Miranda and the Wilkings family are getting a lot of attention, but what about James?
Is he getting lost in this situation because he has a blonde white wife? He’s been treated as an afterthought in their ongoing family drama. There’s definitely more to this story and we just want to get the whole picture.
Miranda responded to the Netflix doc with a statement on Instagram Stories, saying in part, “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.”
“Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult” is now available to stream on Netflix.