For those of you who do not follow KPOP, HYBE is the conglomerate company that is responsible for KPOP groups BTS (Big Hit Entertainment) and NewJeans (ADOR.) In an attempt to recreate their success with BTS, they put together a global girl group called Katseye which includes a trainee who eventually because their Black member named Manon.
In an attempt to drum up buzz around Katseye, HYBE released Pop Star Academy: Katseye a documentary that focuses on the KPOP training camp for the group.
The Kpop subreddits have blown up in response to the observations and accusations of racism toward Manon to the point where Katseye has had to go live to address the poor light that it put most of the members in with relation to Manon.
Throughout the series, the other trainees and future group members are shown in a less than favorable light when interacting with Manon.
@luvvvv______ Lara and Sophia wtfff 💀💀💀manon ate #katseyedocumentary #katseyemanon #katseye #hybexgeffen @KATSEYE ♬ original sound – :3
This clip from the documentary also shows the girls frustration with Manon attention while not putting in a lot of effort… which explains that jealousy will lead to wild treatment and “bullying” of Manon.
This clip is from a girl that did not make it into the group signaling out Manon.
@junsbestiee I knew it was bad for manon but not like this bad damn🤧 . #KATSEYE #MANON #kpop #fyp #foryou #xyzbca #junsbestiee #viral #popstaracademy ♬ Touch – KATSEYE
@mayari_zeja Replying to @linda People praise Manon for the group meeting when they HAVE talked about it before but SHE DIDN’T LISTEN. Why does Manon have to be told it’s wrong to be late or miss rehearsals anyway?!? That’s basic discipline. #KATSEYE #KATSEYE_SOPHIA #KATSEYE_MANON #KATSEYE_LARA #katseyesophia #katseyemanon #katseyelara #manon #lara #sophia #sophialaforteza #PopStarAcademy #PopStarAcademyKATSEYE #hybe #hybelabels #geffen #netflix #fyp #fypシ #fypシ゚viral #viralvideo #viraltiktok ♬ original sound – mayari
In retaliation to the accusations of racism from fans on TikTok, a lot of people said that Manon had “poor work ethic,” was “lazy,” or did not. As many Black Americans know, being called “lazy” is often a microaggression that is shunted toward Black people, so it is interesting to see the word choice that group fans are choosing to use toward Manon.
There have also been TikToks claiming that Manon is racist against Asians and also a Zionist (there are no credible claims as such.)
We can conclude that there is an overarching theme of racism in KPOP from the appropriation of Black music, culture, and dance to dominating experiences from the fan bases surrounding their groups to support racism toward not only Black people but other non-Korean cultures. It is not farfetched to assume that the trainees and eventually other group members were treating her differently, not only because of seeing her as a liability in terms of making a group, but because she came out as one of the leaders despite her absences and is one of the members they are pushing for star material.
I highly suggest you watch the documentary on Netflix to form your own opinion.
Do you think it’s poor work ethic or laziness?
OP: This is my first original. Be nice to me or Imma have Ariana haunt tf out of you.)
Sources:
/kpop_uncensored
Reddit
TikTok search
TikTok of Lara and Sophia greeting Manon
Talking About Manon
