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\n Photo: Todd Owyoung\/NBC via Getty Image\n <\/p>\n
On Friday, Katseye\u2019s label, HYBE x Geffen, announced<\/a> that Manon Bannerman, one of the group\u2019s six members, is taking a \u201ctemporary hiatus\u201d from the group to focus on her health and well-being. A few hours later, Manon issued her own statement<\/a>, writing, \u201cI\u2019m healthy, I\u2019m okay, and I\u2019m taking care of myself. Thank u for checking in! Sometimes things unfold in ways we don\u2019t fully control, but I\u2019m trusting the bigger picture.\u201d The timeline of her hiatus remains unclear, but Katseye doesn\u2019t have any publicly scheduled performances until their Coachella debut in April.<\/p>\n So far, none of the other five members has spoken out about Manon\u2019s temporary departure, but in the days since the announcement, fans have speculated that it might be connected to something bigger. In a February interview with The Cut<\/a>, Manon talked about being the only Black member of the international girl group. Reflecting on how she was portrayed as frequently absent from rehearsals in Netflix\u2019s Pop Star Academy, she said, \u201cBeing called lazy, especially as a Black girl, is not fair. Now I feel like I always need to put in extra work to prove something, even though I really don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, fan screenshots posted over the weekend seem to show Manon liking an Instagram post<\/a> about\u00a0racism<\/a> and label mistreatment in global girl groups. (Fans claim she has since unliked the post.) She appears to have followed<\/a> Normani from Fifth Harmony and Leigh Anne Pinnock from Little Mix, who have spoken out about experiencing racism as the only Black member of a girl group. In 2020, Leigh Anne \u2014 who went on hiatus with the rest of Little Mix in 2022 \u2014 told Billboard<\/a> that, as the only Black woman in the group, \u201cmy reality is constantly feeling like I have to work 10 times harder and longer to mark my place in the group because my talent alone isn\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Leigh-Anne shows love to KATSEYE\u2019s Manon following hiatus announcement and mutual follow:<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to protect each other \u2764\ufe0f\u201d pic.twitter.com\/igiiGZIgvU<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 23, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n