KATSEYE is a global girl group that debuted in 2024, composed of Manon, Sophia, Daniela, Lara, Megan, and Yoonchae. They immediately became a fan favorite with their song “Touch,” which came out less than a month after their debut song, also titled “Debut.” Their popularity continued to skyrocket in 2025, driven by the viral songs “Gnarly” and “Gabriella”. Despite their popularity, they’ve been in the eyes of the general public for quite a while after their performance at the Grammys, and there have been mixed opinions from both fans, non-fans, and casual listeners alike.
I first heard of the KATSEYE girls from their Netflix documentary, The Debut: Dream Academy, created by South Korean record label HYBE and American record label Geffen. Many K-Pop stans and pop girlies tuned in to the documentary back in the autumn of 2023, and it also adds a lot of context to some of the tea and talk around them nowadays.
Recently, member Meret Manon Bannerman announced a temporary hiatus from the group, which sparked massive debate among Eyekons (KATSEYE’s fans) and people who keep an eye on the group about why she’s on hiatus. A lot of people suspect anti-Black racism towards Manon among the reasons for her hiatus, which makes sense because she’s following the same “fate” as other black members of girl groups, like Little Mix and Black Swan. On top of that, she’s in a group that gives her a unique experience of being in both Western pop and K-Pop spotlights. There’s a good fraction of K-Pop stans who are vehemently anti-black, mostly due to ignorance and Korea’s homogenous culture.
Manon’s hiatus makes me question whether her background could be a reason for her hiatus, especially when it comes to the problem of ethnocentrism. While Manon, Sophie, and Yoonchae are from Switzerland, the Philippines, and South Korea, respectively, the rest of the members are from the United States, although they have different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, which makes me believe that Western ethnocentrism has affected all the members, especially Manon.
Many people debate about Daniela’s identity as a Latina, given that her expression of being Latina has changed before and after being in KATSEYE. Lara, being of Indian descent, has also been the center of some debates because some people believe that she’s being performative when she incorporates cultural pieces in her outfits, because of the belief that she possibly didn’t grow up with Indian influences as a child, along with her sexualized posts from before she joined KATSEYE, dating back to when she was 15. I believe that both these cases are a result of assimilation.
Manon’s Swiss background can also clash with both Korean and American cultures, and we can see this in Dream Academy, where Manon says that in Switzerland, people are expected to take breaks when they’re feeling unwell because Swiss culture prioritizes health over everything else. However, the other girls on the show criticized her for the absurd amount of breaks she was taking, being seen as lazy, especially when Sophia carried the dance practices despite being ill. Swiss culture doesn’t follow South Korea’s ppalli-ppalli (빠리빠리), meaning “hurry, hurry,” culture, nor does it follow the fast-paced American culture. Manon does not follow these Western norms, as her identity, compared to Daniela and Lara’s, cannot be assimilated in either South Korea or the US.
On top of Manon’s hiatus, people have been suspecting “the downfall of KATSEYE” for various other reasons, such as mixed opinions on their recent music that’s been deemed questionable, and the actions of Daniela’s father following Manon’s hiatus.
When “Gnarly” first came out, many people thought the song was a chaotic hot mess, but the song went viral despite distaste towards it, since many found the song’s choreography addictive, and the song became an ironic meme. However, their song “Internet Girl” did not have the same ultimatum, since many found the release disappointing, calling it gimmicky and trashy. It also didn’t help that the song was created with the help of AI.
The criticism towards their music only increased after they performed “Gnarly” at the Grammys. Many people believed that they should’ve performed “Gabriella” instead, as it’s more well-liked and general-public-friendly. They performed “Gnarly” as it’s their most well-known song, despite it having mixed opinions, and many people thought that it was an embarrassment to the Grammys as they were performing that song in front of well-respected artists in the audience.
People also believe that because of their questionable music as of recent, the girls are being sabotaged and treated as test subjects for HxG’s experimental music. Many fans think that their talents are being wasted on weird songs that are massively disliked. I also think that the fact that their main title tracks are songs that are weird and disliked keeps people away from the rest of their discography, which is full of more general-public-friendly music.
On a heavier note, following Manon’s hiatus, Daniela’s father seemingly put more fuel to the fire by posting questionable comments online. Shortly after the announcement of Manon going on hiatus, Daniela’s father, Rafael Avanzini, made comments saying that “the show must go on” and “5 [instead of the original 6 members] is ok too”, implying that the group doesn’t need her and that Manon’s absence doesn’t matter. He has also been commenting inappropriate and racist things related to Daniela, saying sexual things about her, and saying that she’s better than Asian dancers as she is Latina.
KATSEYE’s situation involves a variety of problems and various debates. Their future as 5 or 6 members, their music, along with many other things, is uncertain. Whether the group continues to have more problems or continues to become popular, their history reflects the complications of creating a new type of global girl group.