Abby Lee Miller Lashes out at ‘Dance Moms’ Families She Says Abandoned Her Behind Bars

Former Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller has strong words for the families who did not support her when she went to prison. Miller, 56, spent eight months in prison after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud charges in 2016. She was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, but she was released early because of her health issues. Miller also paid a $40,000 fine and a $120,000 judgment.

Miller claims the families of dancers she taught on Dance Moms did not support her when her legal drama played out. “Shame on you. Shame on you after what I did for you, for your children… helped make you a lot of money. You couldn’t come to visit me for eight and a half months? You couldn’t send a card, a letter?” Miller, who now lives in Santa Monica, California, told Entertainment Tonight Wednesday.

Although their parents did not offer any help or kind words, Miller said children from around the world sent her cards and letters during her prison sentence. If 12- and 13-year-old girls could reach out, Miller wondered why their parents did not. “They were getting their cards and letters to me, and people here, that I taught their children before the television show… they were very happy customers before Dance Moms and then during it, they were stars, they were making money, they were on top of the world… and you’re just going to dump me?” Miller asked. “It’s not hurtful anymore because you realize real quick who your friends are.”

Miller has continued working as a dance instructor without ever leaving her Santa Monica home. She is critiquing and teaching dance using Zoom to reach girls worldwide. “Last night, at 1:00 a.m, well, not last night, but this morning, I was teaching a child in Australia, fine-tuning every step that she did,” Miller told ET.

In April 2018, Miller was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma, a non-Hodgkin lymphoma. She is required to use a wheelchair because of the “failure” of her doctors, Miller claims. The experience has changed her perspective on life, and has respect for the physically disabled. “I have such a respect for people that are handicap,” she said. “I had no idea… none before I was in the chair, and you see me out… we bumped into each other at a concert, and I like I said, I go to dinner, I shop, I do this, I do that.”

Miller, who is working with celebrity chef Bruno Serato on a campaign to feed hungry children, said she is thankful for her loved ones and the strangers who help her every day. “[I’m] thankful and grateful for the people in my life… the people that stood by me through thick and thin, through all of this,” Miller told ET. “I love them dearly, and for the strangers, there is an old Irish proverb when you need a favor, ask a stranger. People have been wonderful to me.”

Miller starred in Lifetime’s Dance Moms for eight seasons as the founder of Abby Lee Dance Company. In October 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Miller for allegedly creating a secret bank account to hide her income from classes and television deals. She faced 20 bankruptcy fraud charges. After her initial indictment, she was also charged with customs fraud for bringing in undeclared revenue from a Dance Moms Australia tour. In 2016, she agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges. She was sentenced to one year and one day in prison but was released early weeks after her cancer diagnosis.