Dancing With The Devil subject Miranda leaves Netflix viewers confused

The subject of a controversial new Netflix documentary has sparked bemusement among Instagram followers by attending her sister's wedding while apparently remaining an active member of an alleged cult. Three-part docuseries Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, has mesmerised subscribers with its examination of the Los Angeles based Shekinah Church, led by pastor Robert Shinn, and 7M Films, an associated management company responsible for handling business affairs for TikTok dancers.

Shinn (pictured) has been accused of indoctrinating members with his religious ideology while profiting from their talents by claiming the larger percentage of any earnings they make through social media and other commercial endeavours. One long-serving member, professional dancer Miranda Derrick, serves as the documentary's focus, with her distraught family claiming she has been brainwashed by Shinn and encouraged to abandon her family.

The show's final episode finds sister Melanie Wilking (pictured with sister Miranda) and her parents making headway in their tentative attempts to reconnect with Miranda, who pays sporadic visits to their family home after years of limited contact. But Melanie, who shared a popular YouTube channel with her sister before her involvement with Shekinah and 7M, admits her dream of seeing Miranda serve as maid of honor at her wedding might never happen, and even harbours concerns about inviting her.

Given the context, viewers were understandably confused after noticing Miranda (pictured), a member of the church since 2019, had attended the wedding, just two days before the documentary's May 29 release. The dancer shared her own photos from Melanie's recent wedding to Austin Keler, in which she models an elegant black dress - the colour also favoured by her mother on the day.

Captioning the posts, she wrote: 'Had such a great time at my sister’s wedding.' Commenting after watching the Netflix show, one perplexed follower wrote: 'Soooo what’s with the Netflix show?' 'We needed a shot of you and the bride,' added a second. Others adopted a more cynical view by claiming she didn't really attend the wedding at all, posting: 'Such a terrible staged picture. You can tell by her arms.' 'Obvs a staged photo after the documentary,' wrote another skeptical follower. Another added: 'This is all lies!!!!'

The explosive new Netflix docuseries sheds light on the group of prominent TikTok dancers who are believed to be trapped in a cult . Back in 2022, Miranda's parents posted a harrowing video in which they claimed that they hadn't spoken to their daughter in over a year and that she was being held against her will by a church that was masquerading as a management firm.

They explained that the popular internet star had joined forces with a company called 7M Films in the hopes of becoming a famous dancer in January 2021 - but that they later found out the management firm had ties to a Christian sect run by controversial pastor Shinn.

But Miranda says she simply asked her family for space so she could adjust to her new life after dedicating herself to Jesus Christ in 2020, something she says they have not honored. Pastor Robert has been sued in the past by former member Lydia Chung, who in 2009 claimed that he had taken her from her family, brainwashed her, and defrauded her out of almost $4 million.

A judge ruled in his favor in May 2011, but Lydia remains insistent that he was running something sinister. 'This is a cult,' she told The Daily Beast in 2022. 'This totally ruins people. You hear about the people who went to Vietnam - going through such a trauma, many people cannot function as a normal human being - this is what it does.' Shinn, 7M Films and the Shekinah Church have denied the allegations made against them in the documentary.

Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.