Miranda Derrick’s sister is speaking out about the “death threats” against the 7M dancer.
“Of course, we never wanted any sort of violence to come her way,” Melanie Wilking told People in an interview published on Tuesday, June 11, after Miranda claimed she had received death threats in the wake of the Netflix docuseries, Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult.
“I’m very sorry that she has experienced that because our only intent was to save her from an unsafe environment and to give her love and know that we’re here to support her,” Melanie added.
In a video shared via Instagram on Monday, June 10, Miranda, 27, said her life is “in danger” following the release of the 7M doc on May 29. Miranda and her parents claimed in the three-part series that Miranda is being controlled by a cult run by Robert Shinn, the pastor at Shekinah Church in Los Angeles and the founder of 7M Films, which oversees her dance career.
Miranda has denied the allegations via Instagram, stating on June 4 that she is “not a victim,” “not in any harm,” and “not being abused.”
But Melanie, 25, doesn’t believe her sister is behind her recent comments.
“She’s been under this control for over three years, and so the person that’s sitting in front of her camera and making these posts, that’s not my true sister,” she told People. “I know that this is from the church and from Robert. She’s so loving and kind and loved our family, and so for her to point fingers at us, it’s just not her true self.”
As for where the siblings stand now, Melanie said she has “reached out” to her sister, “just saying, ‘I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.’ And I honestly was not expecting a response.”
“My hope for the future is we are all hanging out, having family parties, talking on the daily like we used to and just being there to support each other. That’s all we’ve ever wanted,” Melanie added.
In her Instagram video on Monday, Miranda said both she and her husband, James, who is also a 7M dancer, feel unsafe following the doc’s release.
“Now that this documentary is out, we feel like our lives have been put in danger. 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,” she said.
Miranda also said that her family’s involvement in Dancing for the Devil had harmed her relationship with Melanie and their parents, Dean and Kelly Wilking.
“I don’t understand how [they] thought that this documentary would help me or our relationship in any way,” Miranda said, adding, “I have been getting together with my family for the past couple of years, privately, to work on our relationship, to make things right, to mend what has been broken. I’ve been loving getting together, laughing, just enjoying each other’s company. And this documentary has made it very difficult to continue doing that.”