we die like wwx

manon bannerman is on haitus from katseye, which is a kpop style girl group. it's a "global" girl group, so not all korean, and manon is the only black member.

hybe entertainment said her haitus is for health reasons, which is what they've said before when she wasn't in music videos or performances. and I do think that's probably true previously, since she talked about how sick day culture in switzerland (where she's from) is different than in the us or korea, and she rests when she's sick. this time though, she posted specifically that she was healthy. her response made people think hybe is lying about the reason for her haitus and that it wasn't her choice.

more telling, though, are the posts she's been liking on instagram. given the contracts she's under, she probably can't say anything directly, but likes are public. she liked (and later unliked) a post alleging hybe was mistreating her because of racism.

little mix and fifth harmony also had one black member each (leigh-anne and normani), who experienced constant racism from their labels. after the haitus announcement, they and manon all followed each other on instagram.

yes it feels insane reading this far into people's instagram interactions, but given the situation it does feel intentional.

hybe has been criticized before for leaving manon out of performances, music videos, and promotions. (allegedly because she was sick, which again I do believe was probably true sometimes.) the choreography for debut has her hidden in the back for most of the song. she wasn't included in the pandora ads on pinterest. she didn't get a solo shot with her custom monster high doll. there's also the infamous billboard photoshoot that a) she wasn't in and b) they covered her face in.

this is especially weird because manon is the visual of the group. that's why she opens a lot of songs, because her face is supposed to draw people in. so hiding her is literally the opposite of her entire job. supposedly, she asked to be put in the back for debut because she'd been sick and didn't know the choreography as well. again, that might be true. but it still doesn't excuse a lot of other shit, and it definitely seems like she's trying to signal via instagram that hybe is being racist to her.

there's also the documentary released about the selection process to build the group, which I haven't seen but supposedly was edited to make her look lazy. she said in an interview specifically about the documentary "being called lazy, especially as a black girl, is not fair." hybe also did the same thing in the options on the quiz they released about her.

this is nothing like the answers about other members. it's definitely a choice to spend this much effort labeling the black girl in the group as lazy and selfish, cut her out of so many promotions when the job they gave her is to be the literal face of the group, and then have her go on haitus.

I don't know much about katseye or hybe, but what I've heard about this situation is fucking weird. at best, hybe has been extremely racist to her in the past but the haitus is her choice. at worst, they used her to establish the group and are now kicking her out and trying to sabotage her future career.