His business and church are the subject of Netflix‘s latest bombshell documentary. If you watched Dancing For The Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, you might be wondering where Robert Shinn is now after all the allegations coming out against him.
Robert Shinn is the CEO 7M Films Management company and is also a pastor at the Shekinah Church. Shinn and 7M Films claim that both operations function independently and have no connections. However, both former 7M employees and church members have accused Shinn of controlling behavior.
In court papers, Robert Shinn described the Shekinah group as “small and tight-knit group of Christian believers committed to spreading their religious message through peaceful religious study and outreach.”
In 2022, several former members of 7M Films Management and the Wilkings family came forward alleging that Shinn forces members to cut out friends and family members and is overall abusive. The Wilkings family including TikToker Melanie alleged that her sister Miranda Wilkings (now Derrick) forcibly blocked all communication from them.
“Even though we were only in there for two years, it’s still two years of our life that we spent battling to give full attention to [Shinn] and his church,” hip-hop dancer Kylie Douglas told Rolling Stone. “We just no longer want him to be able to do that to anyone: the brainwashing, the manipulating, running people down — giving their time, giving their effort, giving their money, giving all they got for something that is a false hope.”
Where is Robert Shinn now?
Little is known about Robert Shinn’s whereabouts today but we do know he currently lives in Los Angeles with his son Isaiah. In response to the Netflix documentary, his company 7M came forward with a statement about Miranda Derrick’s family’s allegations to Daily Mail.
Wilking (now Derrick) and her sister Melanie rose to stardom after posting dancing videos on TikTok. All seemed to be fine within their family until Melanie and her and Miranda’s parents, Kelly and Dean, hosted a livestream alleging Miranda straying away from their family because she joined 7M Film Management. The family said that Miranda cut off almost all contact with her former friends and family, even blocking her grandmother from her social media pages.
“Despite her family’s claims, Miranda is a successful businesswoman and a loving wife and daughter who cares very much about her family,” the statement read. It is pathetic and contemptible to try to turn her private family matters into a tawdry public scandal for clicks and clout. While the recent portrayals of Dr. Robert Shinn and 7M Films have been wildly offensive and riddled with inaccuracies, those false claims will not deter 7M from supporting Miranda in whichever endeavors she chooses to pursue next.”
According to the end of the Netflix documentary, Shinn is planning to go ahead with the lawsuit. “No criminal charges have been brought against Shinn. He has previously denied sexually abusing any member of Shekinah or any client of 7M. The civil lawsuit is ongoing. Robert and his co-defendants deny the claims against them. The case is set to go to trial in 2025.”
What is 7M Films Management & Shekinah Church?
7M Films Management is a company that helps TikTok dancers accumulate fame and wealth. The website for the company says that “7M Films, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based talent management company representing some of the top social media influencers in the world. Since 7M was founded in 2021, the collective social media following of our clients has grown from 1.78 million to 10.42 million.” 7M denied that they are “asserting undue influence over its dancers or taking advantage of them,” according to Rolling Stone.
Shekinah Church was founded by Robert Shinn in 1994 originally as a religious community for Korean Americans. In 2009, Lydia Chung claimed that Shekinah and Shinn “had isolated her from her family, brainwashed her, and defrauded her out of nearly $4 million, which was allegedly funneled to Shinn through the non-taxpaying church.” The judge ruled in favor of Shinn.
“This is a cult,” Chung told The Daily Beast. “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. Miranda Wilking (now Derrick) and her sister Melanie rose to stardom after posting dancing videos on TikTok. All seemed to be fine within their family until Melanie and her and Miranda’s parents, Kelly and Dean, hosted a livestream alleging Miranda straying away from their family because she joined 7M Film Management. The family said that Miranda cut off almost all contact with her former friends and family, even blocking her grandmother from her social-media pages.I don’t want to cause harm to anyone going to real churches,” Chung emphasized and alleged that the organization is “much worse” than Scientology or any other religious sect.
Dancing For The Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult is now streaming on Netflix.
