Netflix series about alleged cult of TikTok influencers features Michigan sisters

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — One of the most-watched new TV shows on Netflix this week centers on two Michigan-raised sisters whose social media fame took a dark turn when an alleged cult leader entered scene.

“Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult” premiered late last month, this week rising to No. 2 on the popular streaming service's self-reported ranking of most-watched TV shows.

The three-part limited series focuses largely on Melanie Wilking, 25, and Miranda Derrick, 27, two siblings the documentary identifies as being from Detroit.

Graduates of the Sterling Heights-based Warren Consolidated School of Performing Arts, the sisters first became known for the dance routines they performed on their shared social media accounts, where they billed themselves as from “The Wilking Sisters”. The duo also performed as members of the Detroit Pistons hip-hop dance team and appeared in music videos with pop stars such as Bruno Mars, Jason Derulo and Joe Jonas.

Over time, followers noticed that Derrick no longer appeared in videos uploaded to social media with his younger sister. In 2022, Wilking and his parents uploaded a video to social media, announcing their fears that Derrick was under the influence of a Los Angeles-based church-turned-talent management agency that they compared to a cult.

At the time, Derrick had largely cut off contact with his family on orders from the agency's CEO, Robert Shinn, the family claimed in the documentary.

Additional interviews showed that former acquaintances of Shinn — who also identified himself as a church pastor — accused him of sexual abuse, which he denied.

Even though Derrick later reconciled with her family, she remained connected to Shinn's organization, 7M Films, the documentary says.

In a statement posted to Instagram following the Netflix documentary's release, she called the series a “one-sided story.”

“I'm just a woman trying to live my life,” Derrick wrote last week. “I am not a victim, I am not harmed, I am not a victim of abuse.”