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There is a supposed dance cult on the rise in Los Angeles according to a famed TikToker’s family. Popular TikTok creator Miranda Derrick’s family believes she is being held hostage by a religious Hollywood cult. Social media users stumbled upon Derrick’s story and they are deeply invested in getting the facts about this alleged cult.
A widely successful TikToker named Melanie Wilking is alleging that her sister and former collaborator Miranda has been held hostage by an entertainment management firm since January 2021, which her and her family also believe to be a cult. The Michigan born sisters started their entertainment careers on YouTube before amassing their 3 million followers on TikTok in 2020 together. The Wilking sisters often posted their sisterly dances with vibrant and bubbly personas.
Unfortunately for their blossoming joint social media accounts, Melanie and her parents think the cult is standing in the way of their family. In a tearful Instagram Live on Feb. 25, Melanie and her parents made claims that Miranda is being held hostage by an organization called 7M Films, an offshoot of a Penetecostal sect that believes in something called the Seven Mountain Mandate.
The Seven Mountain Mandate is based in a selective reading of Bible verse Isaiah 2:2, from which “a group of self-proclaimed ‘apostles’ have a plan rooted in biblical prophecy to ‘invade’ every sphere of life as we know it.” According to followers of 7M, the key facets of life are education, religion, family, business, government, entertainment, and media. They believe it is their job to rid those institutions of demons and witchcraft.
This group took on the White House as former President Donald Trump’s “spiritual advisor” and now they are breaking their way through the TikTok algorithm.
Melanie makes claims that her estranged sister Miranda is without control over her social media after she posted a video dancing in a field to Billy Joel’s “My Life.”
As for Miranda and her household, she responded to her family’s allegations on her Instagram stories, saying that her sister Melanie, “kicked [her] out of the 3.1 million follower TikTok account that [she] originally started and had Melanie join.” Miranda discloses that she stopped speaking with her family because they called the cops on her Black then-boyfriend (now-husband) and dance partner, James Derrick, when she moved in with him, and not because she was forbidden from contacting them by their management.
She continued, “I can speak for James and our friends who are in 7M that they DO speak to their families (so what you guys have heard about 7M dancers not speaking to their families is a complete lie). It’s just a unique situation with my family…”
Miranda’s husband, Derrick, also posted his response on Instagram, saying this situation is a result of, “a white beautiful woman moving in with a poor Black man from Compton that the parents did not approve of. I get it!” he continued. “I was renting a room and had no car. I was a divorced man with a son.”
He claims that after getting married, 7M Films helped him, “become successful in a matter of months.” Derrick assures his followers that the organization, “is not a religious non profit organization but a secular for-profit company run by people who have faith in god” and that it, “manages [his] books and helps with taxes and finances.. It is their job to manage/control our books and schedules.”
Derrick claims that this was a conscious business decision for the couple saying, “that is not a cult activity. It’s called doing business.”
Take a look at the thread created by Twitter user, @msbigmilk, with details of the alleged dance cult below.
Onlookers and self-titled investigative journalists have their theories, but one social media user, who is also active in the dance community, shared her thoughts on the matter.
The details are still unclear, but we pray all parties involved are safe. We will update with details as the story unfolds.
