How a TikTok Dance Cult Exploited and Abused Its Brainwashed Members
TikTok is on the verge of being banned in the United States, and Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult won’t alter its reputation as a tool utilized by conniving Asian power players to manipulate and brainwash young Americans. Derek Doneen’s three-part docuseries is an eye-opening story about aspiring dancers, social media, and a Korean pastor accused of various offenses ranging from financial fraud and sexual abuse to coercing adherents to sever all ties with their families and friends. If it features more than a few frustrating plot holes that undercut its comprehensiveness, it remains a startling look at the ease with which 21st-century hucksters can ply their trade online.
“I cannot be defeated!” proclaims Robert Shinn in one of many audio recordings featured in this bingeable affair (May 29). The preacher, however, has never met a foe as formidable as Netflix, and Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult takes him to brutal task for his myriad wrongdoings. Shinn is the founder and leader of the Santa Ana-based Shekinah Church, a religious outfit that, as evidenced by the material on display in Doneen’s docuseries, indulges in speaking-in-tongues craziness and promotes generic mumbo jumbo about heaven and hell, and its leader as the “Man of God” capable of guiding people to the former and away from the latter. Central to Shinn’s teachings is the idea that the faithful must completely detach from their loved ones in order to pledge allegiance to the Almighty (and him). The closer to Shinn, the closer to God—and getting into his orbit means working for peanuts and catering to his every whim.
Such notions are straight out of the Cult 101 playbook, and thus the revelation that Shinn was filching most of his followers’ earnings is about as surprising as the dawn of each new day. As far back as two decades ago, Shinn had a guiding interest in celebrity, going so far as to executive produce two (crummy-looking) movies and to attempt to launch entertainment careers for his right-hand man Daniel and his daughter Kloe. When those didn’t pan out, he shrewdly turned to a group of dancers who were trying to make it big on TikTok. It was here where Shinn made a serious mark, beginning with his recruitment of James “Bdash” Derrick, a rising star in the scene who served as a de facto recruiter for Shinn’s church. When Shinn saw that this might be a lucrative opportunity to extend his reach into TV and film, he formed a management company called 7M Films and signed a host of additional dancers eager to parlay their hard work into fame and fortune.