The future of one of pop music’s hottest acts could be in jeopardy. On Friday, news broke that Manon Bannerman, a member of the megapopular global girl-group Katseye, would go on temporary hiatus for her “health and well-being.” However, when Bannerman posted her own cryptic message to fans, saying that she is healthy, Eyekons—Katseye’s fandom name—started to speculate that Bannerman’s hiatus is more serious than just a break to focus on her health. As internet sleuths began to collect online breadcrumbs chronicling every shred of evidence that could possibly point to Bannerman having friction with Katseye’s joint labels Hybe and Geffen Records, or with her groupmates, fans became increasingly worried that the idol was being forced out of the group for good.
Suddenly, the conversation about Bannerman’s experience in Katseye erupted into a full internet maelstrom that pointed out the long history of Black celebrities facing racism and extra scrutiny from the public (Bannerman is Swiss Ghanaian), as well as pop’s rocky history with ousting members from groups, particularly in K-pop, with which Katseye shares DNA. Then, like a tornado, the mess began to pick more people up and spit them out, including singer Olivia Rodrigo and a parent of one of the other Katseye members. Don’t worry if this all sounds confusing; I—an Eyekon whose bias is Manon Bannerman—am here to break it all down (through tears).
So, what do we actually know? I’ve been seeing a lot of conjecture.
On Friday, Hybe, the South Korean–turned–multinational entertainment conglomerate, and Geffen, the American label owned by Universal Music Group, announced that Bannerman would be going on a “temporary hiatus” to “focus on her health and well-being.” The statement pledges that this decision was made “after open and thoughtful conversations together” and that the group will continue with their scheduled activities and “look forward to being together again when the time is right.”
This seems fairly innocent. Why are fans freaking out?
Shortly after the announcement, Bannerman took to Weverse—a South Korean app that lets fans communicate with their favorite artists—to release her own statement:
Hi friends 🤍
I want you to hear this from me, I’m healthy, I’m okay, and I’m taking care of myself. Thank u for checking in! Sometimes things unfold in ways we don’t fully control, but I’m trusting the bigger picture. Thank you for standing by me. I love you endlessly and can’t wait to see you again.”
Additionally, internet sleuths noticed that Bannerman liked a video post from content creator Simply Simone about the history of the lone Black girl in girl groups experiencing mistreatment. To onlookers, this move suggested that Bannerman’s hiatus could possibly be linked to label mismanagement, racism, or other forms of mistreatment. Bannerman later unliked the post, further fueling speculation.
That does sound suspicious … Or are fans just making mountains out of molehills?
Bannerman’s message could mean many things: It could mean that she is physically healthy but taking some time off for her mental health. It could mean that there are other personal things going on in her life. It’s a bit of a fool’s errand to read too much into it. However, I’m in the business of foolishness, and I can certainly agree that it sounds like she may be at odds with her company.
Also, the timeline of this announcement is a little concerning. Katseye is on the up and up (or was, depending on how this plays out): They just performed at the Grammys, where they were nominated for two awards, one of them historic. Additionally, they are gearing up for their Coachella debut in April. Katseye currently has the kind of momentum that label executives pray for, so it’s unlikely that they would want to stymie that unless a situation were serious.
Is this out of the ordinary? Does Bannerman have a history of mental health issues or breaks?
You might be surprised to learn that this is actually a very layered question.
On one hand: Yes, it is true that Bannerman has taken a few breaks since the group’s debut, at least more than other Katseye members have. These have largely been due to reported illnesses.
On the other hand: This question has some particularly pointed baggage when it comes to Bannerman. All of this started with Pop Star Academy, the entertainment survival show that detailed the group’s start. Katseye was formed via a program that cast girls from around the world to compete to be in a real girl group. After the program was over and the group cemented, that show was then chronicled in the Netflix reality show Pop Star Academy. And, like any Western reality series, it was pumped full of drama that might not have correlated to how the girls actually felt at the time.
One of the narratives that emerged from the show was that Bannerman was absent from rehearsals, lazy, and not as dedicated as the other members. This narrative didn’t take into account that she was dealing with unprecedented circumstances at the time, like being away from her home in Switzerland and thrust into a high-pressure situation where she had the least formal training out of all the other contestants. To note: She still showed up for all of her mandated performances as part of the program.
Still, since the group’s debut, every time Bannerman would take a break for an illness, she was often accused of being lazy by fans. In a recently published interview with the Cut, Bannerman told the outlet that the difference, as she sees it, lies in the way America treats work–life balance versus her native Switzerland. “You guys are all about grind and hustle,” she said. “In Switzerland, if you’re sick, you take a day off.” Additionally, she asserted that her being labeled as lazy, especially because she’s Black, is unfair. “Now I feel like I always need to put in extra work to prove something, even though I really don’t,” she said.
OK, but what if this whole thing really is just a temporary hiatus to give her a break? Why are fans freaking out so much and reading into it?
To those not steeped in the world of stanning an idol group, news of a temporary hiatus may indeed seem, well, temporary. But there’s a reading between the lines here that virtually all K-pop fans have been conditioned to do over the years. “Temporary” hiatuses for individual members in K-pop aren’t uncommon, but fans and idols alike have also been burned many times by those temporary breaks becoming permanent and eventually leading to the removal of group members.
Sometimes idols have gone on hiatus due to scandals or so-called personal reasons before eventually having their contracts terminated or being kicked out of their group. Hybe, one of Katseye’s labels, has a history of this, not only with Kim Garam from the girl group Le Sserafim, but also more recently with Danielle Marsh from the breakthrough group NewJeans. That, combined with Bannerman’s cryptic statement and the K-pop industry’s history of rocky relationships between artists and their labels, has fans fearing the worst.
Ah, so when they say “temporary hiatus,” for some fans it reads more like: The writing is on the wall. To me, this feels somewhat similar to the Zayn situation with One Direction.
There are many parallels between what is happening with Bannerman and what has happened to others who might be the only Black or brown member of a multiracial music group. Zayn Malik has spoken (and sung) extensively about the racism he experienced during his time with One Direction, as has Normani Kordei with Fifth Harmony, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock with Little Mix.
Not only did Kordei and Pinnock both follow Bannerman on social media after the announcement of her hiatus, but Pinnock even told a fan—who responded to the news of the singers now following each other—that “We need to protect each other.” Melody Thornton, formerly of the Pussycat Dolls, also posted on Instagram in support of Bannerman, and a number of Black artists in the music industry showed their support for her, including SZA and Chloe Bailey. In a Cosmopolitan op-ed, Annabel Iwegbue wrote about the history of how Black members of multiracial groups are often treated as afterthoughts, and are particularly vulnerable to racism and microaggressions—something that can be hard for fans, especially Black ones, to witness. Speaking as a Katseye and K-pop fan myself, there have been times when I felt that Bannerman was being left out, whether from choreography formations or from promotional materials or photos.
Have any of the other Katseye members said anything? I can’t imagine they’re allowed to.
So far, they haven’t said anything. But for some fans, that’s part of the issue: The group’s brand was built around sisterhood, so it feels disingenuous for the members to not speak up for their sister in this tumultuous moment. Granted, it’s very likely that the members aren’t allowed to say anything. But eagle-eyed fans noticed that several Katseye members, even while mum on the topic of Bannerman, wished fellow pop star Olivia Rodrigo a happy birthday online. At the very least, this comes across as a bad move from a PR standpoint.
And then there’s the problem of Rafael Avanzini.
Who is Rafael Avanzini?
He’s the father of one of the other Katseye members, Daniela. Ever since the news was announced, Avanzini has gone on social media and made comments and posts that some fans have read as snipes at Bannerman. In one comment, he stated that “Katseye is bigger than one girl”; in another, he responded that the group “need[s] girls who can grind”; and, in perhaps the most damning responses to posts about Bannerman’s hiatus, he responded that “five [members] is ok too,” and said “comeback when you ready to work.” In what appears to be a comment on his own Instagram Stories post, he said: “Wishing Manon the best on her hiatus. Katseye will always proceed to greatness with or without one girl.” (As if that weren’t enough, Avanzini also went on to comment under a post comparing Daniela’s dancing to that of Blackpink’s Lisa that Daniela is a better dancer because his daughter is Latina, which gives her a “major advantage against Asian dancers.” Quit while you’re ahead, man!)
Suddenly, that one viral tweet that says “My biggest fear is becoming famous and one of my family members being crazy on the internet embarrassing me” is coming to mind. I can’t imagine fans are taking this well at all.
No, of course they aren’t. Some fans have gone into the comment sections of the other members’ social media accounts and have begun to directly blame them for not saying anything, which certainly won’t help soothe any issues. Other fans have gone way too far joking about reporting Rafael Avanzini to ICE.
On the other hand, many fans have engaged in organizing around this issue by calling for a boycott of the group (with demands!) via a number of hashtags, from #JusticeForManon and #BoycottForManon to #HYBEWeNeedAnswers, #ForeverWithManon, and more.
This is a lot of mess for something that may not even amount to anything. After all, Bannerman is not actually out of the group, right?
As of this moment, correct. Though further breadcrumbs—like Bannerman’s rumored boyfriend reposting an Instagram explainer from the pop culture page Impact about how “The internet is sick of watching Black members of girl groups be mistreated”—may be adding fuel to the fire, there still has not been any official indication that Bannerman is out of Katseye.
The truth is, we simply don’t know what the future holds. But, whether Bannerman really is taking some personal time or is beefing with her label or is in a feud with her fellow bandmates, one thing is clear: This hiatus has opened up a whole can of worms. All we can do now is wait and let the chips fall where they may.