For a girl group that doesn’t even have a full album out, Katseye has had its fair share of scandals. And the newest drama has just dropped: Manon, one of the group’s six members, has announced that she is taking a hiatus from Katseye.
A statement released by their management says, “After open and thoughtful conversations together, we are sharing that Manon will be taking a temporary hiatus from group activities to focus on her health and wellbeing.”
Manon later shared her own statement on Weverse, explaining “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.”
I must say, I was not surprised when I saw Manon was taking a hiatus. She is often cited as having a weak immune system that causes her to get sick and miss Katseye-related events. But the two statements put up some red flags for me. The music industry, especially the K-pop industry, is known for mistreating female artists — putting them under intense pressure, blaming various issues on them, and not shielding them from media scrutiny. Manon is just one in a very long line of female artists that have been made the villain, and fans rarely know the full, true story. How long will we let labels and management blame the individual until we actually make the industry change?
Before Katseye was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2026 GRAMMYs, before their viral Gap ad sent marketing classes into a tizzy, there was already a narrative being created about Manon: she is uncommitted to Katseye.
In a documentary released about the creation of the global girl group, we see Manon skip rehearsals, take unexcused breaks, and look like she’s putting minimal effort into training her dancing and singing. The other girls comment on this, saying that she’s not working that hard and that they’re taking training much more seriously than she is. This plotline is resolved with Manon apologizing to the girls for not being there, and showing up to all rehearsals afterwards.
But this documentary often mixes up the timeline, making some “problems” seem bigger than they actually were. Making Manon look this way in the documentary is such a dangerous lens for the management to position her under. Her first impression to fans is then that she’s uninvolved and lackadaisical.
This narrative continued after Katseye officially debuted. Manon is often called out for missing performances and being absent for group events. Like I mentioned, Katseye’s management explains this away with Manon’s weak immune system. But many people have pointed out other moments in which Manon is unfairly sidelined, like how her face is covered by another member in a photoshoot with Katseye’s Glossier billboard, or how the main choreography for their song “Debut” completely keeps her from view.
This doesn’t even make sense to me because she holds the role of “visual” in Katseye, which means she’s supposed to be the most conventionally attractive out of everyone, making her the main focus of brand campaigns. You’re probably thinking this seems like an odd role to have in a pop group, but it’s important to remember that Katseye is based on the K-pop girl group model, so it’s actually nice to see a girl who doesn’t align with Korean beauty standards placed in this role. But to me, it feels weird to highlight only Manon’s looks while the other girls get roles like lead vocalist, all-rounder, or main dancer — which focus on their talent.
The narrative around these “disappearances” just makes Manon look worse than the other girls. It’s formulated in such a way so their management can be seen as kind and understanding for letting Manon put her health before the group. But then, they do nothing to shield Manon from intense, racially motivated comments judging her lack of commitment to Katseye.
Manon has rejected claims that she is lazy, saying that it’s especially hurtful to be called that because as a Black woman, she feels like she always needs to prove herself ten times as much as others to be taken seriously. This is not a Manon-specific feeling, so I wanted to direct you to a really well-written article by Larisha Paul about being the only Black member in girl groups, called “Manon’s Katseye Hiatus: Black Girl-Group Members Deserve Better Than This.”
So, it almost seems like their management has had a vendetta against Manon since the very beginning, eventually wanting to phase her out of the group. This is where the two hiatus statements come into play. They said Manon is taking a break to focus on her health, then Manon counters by saying she’s healthy and okay. But it’s really her last sentence that leads me to believe this hiatus was not her full decision. I think that they’re using her health as an excuse to remove her, with some more sinister mistreatment happening behind the scenes. Plus, “I’m trusting the bigger picture” sounds like Manon really does NOT trust the bigger picture.
At every moment, Katseye’s management has allowed Manon to take the blame for everything. She is the one called out for missing performances when other members have actually missed more than her. They underutilize her role, even after originally scouting her specifically for the girl group because of Manon’s star quality felt even through a screen.
As management, once you create the narrative of Manon as the weak link of the group, it becomes easier to kick her out later without any repercussions on your part.
I would not be surprised if Manon’s hiatus turns into a full exit from Katseye, not unlike how Zayn left One Direction in 2015. I hope that fans and pop culture enthusiasts will see through management’s PR-driven statements, remember pop culture history, and recognize that it’s mistreatment from the media and dangerous label control that actually forced Manon to the fringes of Katseye. And the next time it comes around, maybe we can avoid blaming the individual when we rarely know the full story.