Recently, Hybe x Geffen, the parent company of the global girl group Katseye has faced criticism by fans for excluding one of the members, Manon, from certain group activities, with fans pointing out that Manon has either been physically hidden or completely excluded from different promotional materials, including promotional photos and videos, billboards, and major partnerships with Glossier and Monster High.
This entire controversy has led fans to bring up other popular bands and how certain members were treated within those groups, such as Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock, who frequently addressed feeling neglected and mistreated by fans and management compared to her bandmates, and Fifth Harmony’s Normani, who shared having a similar experience. These parallels have led fans to believe that this exclusion may be racially motivated, as all of those previous examples are the sole Black member within their respective groups, just like Manon.
Is Equal Spotlight Even Possible?
This debate about Katseye begs the question of whether it is truly possible for every member of a group to receive equal attention and shine, and if not, what determines who gets the spotlight and who doesn’t?
Naturally, within most girl and boy groups, there will be varying levels of popularity, line distribution, screentime, or marketing approaches that tend to feature certain members over others. For example, Destiny’s Child advertised Beyoncé, Fifth Harmony’s marketing often focused on Camila Cabello, and K-pop bands like Miss A nearly solely concentrated on Suzy. Though these tactics can help a group’s success, they can turn off fans who favor other members or those who just want to see all parties be included.
The problem gets even more complicated when factors such as race are considered, as there has been an observable pattern with darker-skinned members within certain groups getting less attention and spotlight, such as (left to right) Alex Reid of BP Rania, Leigh-Anne Pinnock of Little Mix, Normani Kordei of Fifth Harmony, and now Manon Bannerman of Katseye.
Final Thoughts
With Katseye’s popularity growing by the day, their company must learn to directly tackle these issues and reassure fans that all six members are equally important to the company by guarantee every member feels valued and included.