KATSEYE members Yoonchae, Lara, Megan, Daniela and Sophia in a promotional asset for 'Pinky Up'.
hybe x geffen
KATSEYE released techno-pop single “Pinky Up” this week, but member Manon Bannerman remains conspicuously absent. This is the group’s first new music since member Manon Bannerman went on hiatus in February. The track and its accompanying music video feature five members — Sophia Laforteza, Lara Raj, Daniela Avanzini, Megan Skiendiel, and Yoonchae Jeung — with Bannerman absent from both. HYBE confirmed on the day of release that Manon remains on hiatus, offering no update on whether she would join the group at Coachella the following day.
"Pinky Up" was released one day before KATSEYE's scheduled debut at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where they are set to perform on the Sahara Stage on April 10 and again on April 17. The music video, directed by Bardia Zeinali with creative direction from Humberto Leon, follows a "fancy but rebellious" concept and runs 2 minutes and 11 seconds. The track was written by Justin Tranter, among others, and produced by "Hitman" Feng and Dwiliy.
The promotional rollout began March 30 with a teaser featuring a stylized Mona Lisa raising a teacup with her pinky extended. Subsequent teasers showed an arcade claw machine and a sword pulled from a pile of stuffed animals. None of the clips featured the members' faces directly, a choice that generated scrutiny among fans already watching the campaign closely for any sign of Bannerman. She did not engage with any of the promotional posts.
ForbesKATSEYE’s Manon Is Still Missing From New Single PromosManon Bannerman, 23, was born in Lucerne, Switzerland, to a Swiss-Italian mother and a Ghanaian father. She grew up in Zurich, taught herself piano and ukulele, and was discovered through her TikTok and Instagram presence by a HYBE casting manager in 2022. She joined the group's formation process through The Debut: Dream Academy, a HYBE and Geffen Records competition that drew over 120,000 applicants globally. She finished sixth in the finale in November 2023 and debuted with KATSEYE in June 2024.
She is the group's only Black member, and the first Black artist to be signed to a HYBE label. Her presence in the group was widely noted as significant: in a Billboard Philippines cover profile, she recalled watching a video of a young Black girl pointing to her on screen. "All my life, growing up in Switzerland, that is something I wanted to see on TV," she said.
On February 20, 2026, weeks after the group performed at the 68th Grammy Awards — where KATSEYE were nominated for Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, with Bannerman present — HYBE and Geffen announced she would be taking a temporary hiatus to focus on her health and wellbeing. The statement said the group and label had reached the decision through "open and thoughtful conversations." No timeline for her return was given.
In a February 2026 interview with The Cut, published days before the announcement, Bannerman had spoken about the pressures of her working environment. "Being called lazy, especially as a Black girl, is not fair," she said. "Now I feel like I always need to put in extra work to prove something, even though I really don't." She did not publicly attribute her hiatus to those pressures, and neither HYBE nor Bannerman has made any statement connecting the two.
Since the hiatus began, she was absent from the group's South American festival run in March, which included Lollapalooza Argentina, Lollapalooza Chile, Estéreo Picnic in Colombia, and Lollapalooza Brazil. During the Buenos Aires performance, Laforteza gave her a public shout-out from the stage.
On April 2, Bannerman posted a message to Weverse addressed to fans: "HxG and I are having positive conversations and I feel supported. I'm happy and I'm healthy. I'll share more soon. Thank you for always being there for me." It was her first public statement since the hiatus was announced. She did not mention the other members or reference "Pinky Up." On the same day, her Instagram bio was updated to remove any mention of KATSEYE, now reading only "mademoiselle manzanita." HYBE declined to comment on the change.
HYBE had separately confirmed to The Korea Herald on April 3 that Bannerman would participate in the Coachella performances. That confirmation has since been taken out of the Korea Herald article, and has not been repeated or clarified since the April 9 release-day statement that she remains on hiatus.
The release lands at a commercially significant moment for KATSEYE. "Internet Girl," released in January 2026, debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 — their highest chart entry to date — and entered Spotify's Global Daily Top Songs chart at No. 13 on release day. That same week, "Gabriela" peaked at No. 21 on the Hot 100 in its 25th chart week, giving the group three simultaneous Hot 100 entries alongside "Gnarly." Their second EP Beautiful Chaos peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 in 2025.
The group is also scheduled to headline the Head in the Clouds Music & Arts Festival in Pasadena, California on August 8. Whether Manon Bannerman will be part of those performances, or any performances going forward, has not been confirmed.
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