Just as the popular girl band, Katseye, released their latest song “Internet Girl,” member and visual of the group, Manon Bannerman has announced an unforeseen hiatus for mental and physical health reasons.
Bannerman, many fans favorite member, has temporarily left the girl band, Katseye, for personal reasons, though some suspect she won’t be back. Viewers have been flooding the internet with theories and hypotheses as to why Bannerman really left and why she may not be returning.
Shortly after Katseye became popular on-screen, Netflix released the documentary Popstar Academy. This documentary showed the inside scoop as to what the member’s training, competition, and growth looked like to beat out the other contestants and earn their spot in Katseye. Many viewers of the documentary took issue with the treatment of Bannerman. Though she is not the only diverse member of the band, she did have to deal with issues and stereotypes relating to herself, as a black woman. For instance, throughout the filming of the documentary, Bannerman was purposely portrayed as being lazy and having no work ethic, despite working just as hard as the other contestants to earn her spot in the band. Other contestants were filmed saying that they would not want Bannerman in their group and that she would not be an ideal member. But her fans disagreed.
Bannerman became a global favorite instantly with her stunning appearance and majestic vocals. In the past, when Bannerman had taken breaks due to her health and overboarded work life, fans were empathetic and supportive, though now fans are skeptical, and suspicion only grew when many saw Bannerman liked an Instagram post of herself in the group with the caption, “Another Black girl subjected to racism and label mistreatment yet again…”
Social media videos and reels have gone viral over the subject and people are putting the pieces together about the mistreatment of the fan-favorite visual. Pictures have been circulating showing other members of the group posing to where only Bannerman’s face is hidden on billboards, where Bannerman is in the very back while dancing in music videos (despite being the visual), where Bannerman had to view a billboard without the group because of exclusion, and even to where other member Daniela Avanzini’s father commented on posts about Bannerman saying, “The show must go on,” and “Come back when you’re ready to work.” How do you feel about Bannerman’s possible non-return to the band?
