The last time Melanie Wilking spoke to Miranda Derrick was at her wedding—just four days before Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult dropped on Netflix.
“It was truly the best day of my life,” Melanie tells Glamour of her Las Vegas nuptials, which took place on May 25. Despite online conspiracies that her sister faked her attendance, Melanie confirms Miranda and James “BDash” Derrick witnessed her exchange vows with NFL player Austin Ekeler. “Our interactions were very positive,” she says. “I’m glad we can share that memory together.”
Melanie was first cut out of her sister’s life after Miranda became embedded in a group of Los Angeles dancers represented by 7M Films, a talent management company founded by Shekinah Church pastor Robert Shinn. Unsure where else to turn for help, Melanie and her parents exposed the alleged cult on Instagram Live in February 2022, leading former church members and 7M dancers to come forward with accusations of financial, emotional, and sexual abuse by Shinn.
According to Dancing for the Devil, Miranda eventually reestablished contact with the Wilkings, on the condition that they stop discussing Shinn and his church. The three-part documentary further asserts that 7M dancers were encouraged to post videos with their loved ones on social media to ease the public’s concern. “It takes diligence to cut your friends and family out in a way that they don’t even know they’ve been cut out,” Shinn can be heard saying in one audio clip. “You gotta be undercover.”
Since the release of Dancing for the Devil on May 29, communication between the Wilking sisters has ceased. “Sadly, I did reach out but I have not heard back,” Melanie tells Glamour on June 5, shortly after returning from her honeymoon.
The previous day, Miranda denied belonging to a cult in a social media statement, claiming her family’s rift started over a strong disagreement about religion. “I have been getting together with them over the past couple years to make amends, move on and work things out as a family,” she wrote on June 4. “This documentary has created a further challenge between us as I work to overcome this public attack. 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.”
For her part, Melanie doubts her sister has seen the documentary. “I feel it is very clear that she did not watch it because it’s so much bigger than just our family situation,” she says. “It was very sad when I read that.”
One week after the release of Dancing for the Devil, Melanie Wilking (now Ekeler) opens up about her current relationship with Miranda, her reasons for participating in the documentary, and what comes next. While Melanie is clearly excited about life as a newlywed and her recent cross-country move to D.C., the dancer fights back tears when discussing the future she still envisions with her sister: “Someday we will all be together again and we’ll look back on this as just a crazy period of life.”
Read moreThe Dancing for the Devil Filmmakers Want to Clear Up One Thing About the Wilking Sisters
The team behind Netflix’s gripping new docuseries unpacks what it took to expose the “7M TikTok Cult” and what comes next.
Glamour: When I spoke to Dancing for the Devil director Derek Doneen and executive producer Jessica Acevedo, they said your family was reluctant to take part in the documentary. Can you tell me what gave you pause and what led you to take part?
Melanie Wilking: I think we were hesitant because it is such a delicate situation to navigate. There’s no guidebook on how to [proceed] when you have a family member in a cult. And so we didn’t want to make the wrong move. And after going live, we’re like, “we put ourselves out there, how do we continue to keep the story alive?”
And so then we ultimately decided to join the project because we wanted to make sure that my sister had a voice in this. It would be very easy to place the blame on her or some of the other people in the in the church, but they’re all victims. And we wanted to make sure that was, you know, properly said and we could be a voice for them.
And we just immediately connected with Jessica and Derek and they just approached the situation so respectfully and delicately. Yeah, it was a kind of a no brainer that if we are going to do some sort of documentary or project it was going to be with them.
Some people on social media believe BDash actively recruited your sister and other dancers for 7M. Do you see him as a victim of the situation?
I think, hands down, he’s still a victim. I mean, I think it was the perfect storm that my sister was in a relationship with him. He was, you know, having his friends join this group with him because ultimately he thought this was a good situation. So, hands down, he’s most definitely a victim of the situation as well.
Miranda attended your wedding—how was that experience?
Overall, it was great. I’m very happy that she came—her and James were there. And although it was my wedding, so I was pulled in many different directions and I didn’t get to spend much time with people individually but our interactions were very positive and I’m glad we can share that memory together.
Have you been in contact with her since the documentary came out?
I have not, sadly. I did reach out, but I have not heard back.
Did you see your sister’s statement yesterday?
I did.
It was very similar to her response to your family’s Instagram live in 2022. Do you think she watched the documentary?
No. Not at all. I think, according to 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. 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 did say she is a plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit. Is that against you or your family?
No. From my knowledge, it’s against Katie Joy. Katie Joy has been vocal about [7M] but I don’t know the specifics on the case.
In episode two, Shekinah member Melanie Lee encouraged your family to push back against Miranda’s rules for continued contact. At the time, you appeared to be on a similar page as Lee and a bit frustrated by your parents’ decision to maintain contact under those pretenses. How do you feel about that now?
I think, again, it is a very difficult situation to navigate. And there is no correct way because every situation is so different. But from my experience, the only time something happens is when we’ve spoken out about it and not just gone along [as if] nothing ever happened, which is what is easy to do. It’s easy to go about life like it never happened, but then we’re not truly addressing the problem. And Robert is still in control, which I have a problem with.
That’s why I’m so glad that the documentary is out now and that my family and I went live initially, a couple of years ago, because something came of it. You know, Miranda started talking to us, again, the word is out, people are getting educated on the situation. So I think that’s where I stand on that.
Do you think that contact with Miranda will continue?
You know, I’m not too sure. I’m hopeful that we will stay in contact. I don’t necessarily know what that looks like. But I’ve never lost hope that we will get our relationship back.
So you don’t think that it’s too far gone at this point?
No, not at all.
In your own social media statement, you talked about finding balance between posting about your sister and posting about your wedding, honeymoon, and dance. What does that look like for you?
It’s hard to balance that because we don’t want the story to die. There’s a lot of eyes on it right now and it’s so important to keep putting pressure on on Robert and to keep it alive. But then again, this whole situation—people close to me will know—when I talk about it, it is just completely draining to me. I don’t want to be defined by the trauma that I went through. So trying to keep filling my cup and live a positive and fulfilled life is so important to me. So I’m just trying to still add my positivity and light into the world, but then also, using my story and what I went through to educate people is so important so that this doesn’t happen to more people.
What I’ve learned throughout this process, and with people reaching out to me is that this is way more common than you would ever think. And so many people have gone through similar situations, which is wild to me. So [I’m] just continuing to share my story so that people can be educated and not fall into these high-control groups.
According to The Cut and The Rolling Stone, BDash’s friends claim he was previously a part of another “high-control group” with a lot of similarities to Shekinah. Do you know anything about that?
Yes, he did. He did actually share that with us prior to this whole situation.
What would you tell someone who thinks their loved one might be getting pulled into a cult?
I think the main thing is don’t give up on your loved one. Because giving up is so much easier. It would have been so much easier to say, “You know what, live your life do your thing.” But we know that my sister is not in a safe environment. And so we will not stand for that. And so just to keep doing whatever you feel is necessary, educate yourself, contact authorities. Really just keep going.
But then also, it will get better. Like, your life will get better. It may not look the way you thought it would. But you will find happiness again. There will be joy, it just may not be in the things that you thought.
When it when it comes to everything that you’ve been through over the past few years, how have you been processing that trauma outside of fighting for your sister?
I really credit my family and friends. I truly have such an amazing group around me. Talking things through, especially in the beginning, was so important and really helped me heal throughout all this. [Fighting back tears] Because I don’t wish this upon anyone.
And just trying to never lose that hope. It’s very difficult, but that’s what gets me through. Someday, I don’t know when, we will all be together again and we’ll look back on this as just a crazy period of life. That’s what gets me through.
You can watch Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult on Netflix. Emily Tannenbaum is an entertainment editor, critic, and screenwriter living in Los Angeles.
The post Melanie Wilking Tried Contacting Miranda Derrick After Dancing For the Devil Came Out: ‘I’ve Never Lost Hope’ appeared first on Glamour.
