The worldwide woman group Katseye was purported to be having a second.
Contemporary off their historic 2026 Grammys look, turning into the primary woman group in over 20 years to hit that stage, the six-member group had all of the markers of pop dominance with viral singles like “Contact,” “Gnarly,” and “Gabriela,” model offers with GAP, Laneige, and Matrix, and a quickly increasing worldwide fanbase.
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However as an alternative of celebrating a breakthrough 12 months, Katseye is now on the middle of a rising controversy that feels all too acquainted.
On Feb. 20, 2026, Hybe x Geffen introduced that Manon Bannerman, one of many group’s most seen and beloved members, can be occurring a brief hiatus for what was framed as psychological well being causes. Followers have been shocked however initially supportive.
Then Manon spoke.
In a quick however loaded assertion, she informed followers she was “wholesome” and that “issues unfold in ways in which we don’t absolutely perceive.” And identical to that, the narrative shifted. What was first offered as a routine trade pause rapidly turned a set off for a broader dialog about race, visibility, and the way Black ladies are handled inside international woman teams. As a result of for lots of followers, this didn’t come out of nowhere.
On-line, supporters started resurfacing moments they are saying level to a sample. In music movies, Manon appeared much less centered or partially obscured. In promotional campaigns, she was typically lacking altogether. And within the group’s 2024 documentary Popstar Academy: Katseye, she was often framed as “lazy,” “egocentric,” or the “weakest hyperlink.” This can be a narrative that many followers now see as racially coded and acquainted.
That’s why the response hasn’t simply been about Katseye. It’s been about historical past. Artists like Normani of Fifth Concord and Leigh-Anne Pinnock of Little Combine, each of whom have publicly spoken about being the one Black ladies of their respective teams, have proven help. So have artists like SZA, Kehlani, Chlöe Bailey, and rising voices like Chase Infiniti.
For a lot of followers, this seems like a recurring story the place the Black woman within the group is usually hyper-visible and invisible on the identical time. She is scrutinized extra harshly, praised much less persistently, and positioned as expendable when tensions come up. She’s anticipated to hold the burden of illustration whereas navigating an trade that also struggles with find out how to market, defend, and absolutely embrace Black femininity on a world stage.
It didn’t assist that Daniella Avanzini’s father, Rafael Avanzini, added gas to the hearth with feedback suggesting the group can be positive with 5 members and that it “wants ladies who can grind.” Although he later apologized, the harm was already completed, particularly in a second the place followers have been already questioning how Manon was being positioned behind the scenes.
Now, with Hybe x Geffen remaining silent and no public statements from the group’s different members, followers are left studying between the traces.
Manon, for her half, has stored her message easy, telling supporters she “loves her followers greater than phrases can describe.” However the uncertainty surrounding her hiatus, and whether or not she’ll return for Katseye’s upcoming Coachella efficiency in April, has solely intensified the dialog.
As a result of at this level, the query isn’t simply “The place is Manon?” It’s why this retains taking place. Why does the one Black member so typically turn into probably the most contested one? Why are narratives of “angle,” “laziness,” or “not becoming in” so simply hooked up? And why do followers should piece collectively patterns earlier than the trade acknowledges them?
Katseye might have been constructed on the concept of worldwide unity between six ladies, with totally different backgrounds, one sound. However this second is revealing the fractures beneath that picture. For a lot of followers watching carefully, it’s not nearly one group. It’s about an trade that also hasn’t discovered find out how to deal with Black ladies as full, protected, and central, not non-compulsory, within the story.
Kannon Trowell is a journalism main at Howard College. She is desirous about leisure reporting. You may comply with her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/kannontrowell
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Katseye’s Manon Hiatus Raises Greater Questions About Black Ladies In Woman Teams
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