The 7M 'TikTok Cult’ Is Getting A Netflix Docuseries: Release Date and What to Know
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“I don’t even know where to start.”
That’s how the trailer for Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, a new three-part docuseries coming to Netflix, begins — and it honestly sums up our own feelings about the 7M TikTok saga pretty well. Ever since the family of TikToker Miranda Derrick suggested publicly in early 2022 that 7M Films, a church-affiliated talent management company in Los Angeles that represents social media influencers, was controlling her, 7M cult claims have been circulating. It was only a matter of time before a cult documentary dropped.
Below, we’ve rounded up everything we know so far about the new (and somewhat cryptic) Netflix docuseries, including the release date, the trailer, and a brief rundown of the allegations against 7M that Dancing for the Devil could shed light on.
When is Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult coming out on Netflix?
The three-episode docuseries premieres on Netflix on Wednesday, May 29. All three episodes will be released at once, making this series quick-watch material.
Is there a trailer for Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult?
Netflix released a trailer for the docuseries only recently, and despite it premiering soon, there hasn’t been much press. That’s added to the limited-part series feeling, shall we say, enigmatic? You can watch the trailer below:
Similarly mysterious: Back in May 2022, shortly after Derrick’s family shared their concerns — which we’ll explore in a bit more detail below — an HBO docuseries on 7M was announced. Its production was supposedly meant to include the team who worked on The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin, but after two years, no further official information about the series has come out.
Ultimately, information on projects exploring 7M, as well as deeper clarity into the accusations surrounding the group, can feel scarce. But Dancing for the Devil executive producer Jessica Acevedo told Netflix she hopes the new series will help change that. Speaking to a writer for Tudum, Netflix’s company blog, Acevedo said: “This series is about exposing the wrongdoers and setting the story straight, all with the hope of helping those still under the control of the church.”
Who, allegedly, are the wrongdoers? And what exactly is the ‘7M TikTok Cult’ docuseries seeking to expose? We’ll run through a quick summary below.
What is Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult about?
In its trailer notes, Netflix describes the new series as telling the story of a “a group of prominent TikTok dancers [who] are trapped in a cult masquerading as a management company called 7M.”
It names Miranda Wilking — now Miranda Derrick, post-marriage — as one of those dancers. The trailer opens with Derrick’s family members, including sister and former dance partner Melanie Wilking, saying they “aren’t allowed to contact” her and that they’ve been “blocked on absolutely everything” before shifting focus to other dancers who claim to have been “sucked into” and controlled by 7M.
The one allegedly doing the controlling is 7M Films owner and Shekinah Church pastor Robert Shinn. After the Wilking family came forward in their tearful Instagram live video, investigative reporting from The Daily Beast uncovered corporation filings showing the connection between 7M Films and Shekinah Church International, a church The Daily Beast said “seems to have no set service times, no social media accounts, and no physical church venue, just a Santa Ana office space that also houses 7M Films.”
Claims of abuse tied not just to dancers but to congregants of the church were found. As The Cut reported, a 2009 court case filed against Shinn by a former Shekinah Church member, Lydia Chung, accused the church and its leader of “exerting undue influence, mind control, coercive persuasion, oppression and other intimidating tactics.” While Chung lost that case after another defendant failed to appear, she maintained to the The Daily Beast that Shekinah Church “is a cult” that “totally ruins people.”
Not long after those claims gained attention, a representative for 7M and Shinn told Business Insider in June 2022 that “these allegations are false and defamatory” and denied any instance of controlling behavior by Shinn. Teen Vogue reached out to 7M Films for comment.
But in early 2023, three former 7M dancers sued Shinn, joining four other complainants in accusing him of running a cult, per reporting from Rolling Stone. One of the dancers in the lawsuit, Kylie Douglas, who worked with 7M between 2020 and 2022, told Rolling Stone: “Even though we were only in there for two years, it’s still two years of our life that we spent battling to give full attention to [Shinn] and his church. We just no longer want him to be able to do that to anyone: the brainwashing, the manipulating, running people down — giving their time, giving their effort, giving their money, giving all they got for something that is a false hope.”
Speaking about the new Netflix docuseries, which has put the allegations against Shinn and 7M back in the public eye, Dancing for the Devil director Derek Doneen pointed out how the scariest thing about cult-like groups is just how many of us are susceptible to them.
“I think audiences will be surprised by how easily regular people can get sucked into cult-like groups and how devastating the impact can be on families, friends, and communities,” Doneen said. “I’m in awe of the families who let us in as they worked tirelessly to rescue their loved ones.”
Find Dancing for the Devil on Netflix.
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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
