(NewsNation) — The negative response Miranda Derrick has received after the release of Netflix‘s docuseries “Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult” could push her further into the organization, author and cult survivor Sarah Edmondson told NewsNation.
“Dancing for the Devil” is about a group of TikTok dancers, including Derrick, who join a talent management company called 7M and its associated church. However, Netflix writes, “unsettling details about the founder and their dark realities come to light.” Robert Shinn, the leader of 7M, is a pastor at an invite-only church called Shekinah. He is currently facing a lawsuit filed by a former 7M member who participated in the three-episode documentary, Variety reports.
Members of Derrick’s family, who she is estranged from, were interviewed as part of the series. Derrick recently posted a video on TikTok and Instagram saying she and her husband’s lives were “put in danger” after “Dancing for the Devil” was released in May.
“We have both been followed in our cars. We have received hate mail, death threats, people have been sending us messages to commit suicide, and we’ve been stalked,” Derrick said.
Edmondson, who is an ex-member of the sex cult NXIVM, which claimed to be a self-help, multilevel marketing company, says 7M has been on her radar for a few years now.
Although she saw signs of it being a cult “from day one,” Edmonson said on “Banfield” that Derrick might not realize the situation she’s in.
“When you’re in a cult, you really don’t think you’re in a cult,” Edmonson said. “She’s in a situation that for her, she’s doubled down in, that she believes is something really good.”
Edmonson said that if Derrick gets more hate from the “outside world,” she’ll want to retreat more into 7M and believe Shinn when he warns that it’s not safe away from the group.
Instead of reacting harshly, Edmonson said, people should send Derrick loving messages.
“One of the things that helped me wake up (from NXIVM), obviously way too late after 12 years, was kind people asking curious questions and planting seeds,” she said.