Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for dick clark productions
Miranda Derrick, one of the subjects of Netflix docuseries Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, is publicly rejecting the “cult” part of that title. Rather, she feels the distance between her and her family stems from their hostility to religion in general. Derrick went on Instagram stories to explain her side of what went down, and People took screenshots for posterity. “I want to start by saying that I appreciate the concern that has been expressed for my well-being. Due to pending litigation, in which I am a plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit, it’s not appropriate for me to comment on specific allegations,” she wrote. “Though I will state that I do not condone abuse in any way.” Derrick says the divide between her and her family came when she “gave my life to Jesus Christ in 2020 and asked my family for some space in the very beginning to collect my thoughts and process my new walk I wanted to take with God.” Derrick then alleges that her sister, Melanie Wilking, locked her out of their shared social media account. “So I had no other choice but to start my own account and pursue my own career,” she wrote. “My family didn’t honor the space I asked for and I saw a different side of them I’ve never seen before. Honestly, it made me mad, frustrated and annoyed that they were being so overbearing and chaotic.”
Derrick went on to explain why she didn’t attend her grandfather’s funeral, a topic which came up in the doc. According to Derrick, she “felt threatened” by her family at that time. “I was at a place with my family where I felt like I was being harassed,” she wrote. “My parents and sister are not religious. They immediately called me going to church twice a week a ‘cult.’ I felt that if I went back for the funeral they would try to keep me there and not let me come back to LA.”
Derrick said that she has been in contact with her family these past few years, but that the doc’s release “has created a further challenge between us.” Melanie Wilking concurs that Derrick has been back in her family’s orbit of late. “Thankfully, since going public in 2022, we have reunited with my sister, who even attended my wedding,” she wrote in her own IG stories. “We believe that one day my sister and the other victims will realize their love for their families and faith was exploited. When that happens, we will be here for them without judgement.”
