Aahana Swrup
The Apple TV+ docuseries’ K-Pop Idols’ charts the course of three different artists in the South Korean music industry to explore the challenges and rewards of the profession. As such, the narrative highlights the demanding nature of being an idol through the experiences of DR Music’s global K-pop girl group, BLACKSWAN. As the group finds themselves putting out shows in Belgium, a disagreement between two members, Leia (born Larissa Ayumi Cartes Sakata) and Fatou, threatens the band’s future. After the dispute bleeds into public knowledge, the former’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, inviting questions about her continued inclusion in the group. Thus, Leia’s complicated journey with BLACKSWAN is bound to incite some curiosity!
Leia is On a Hiatus From BLACKSWAN to Focus on Personal Matters
Since the group’s debut in 2020, BLACKSWAN fans have seen multiple members join and leave the band for various reasons. However, Leia’s situation remains uniquely distinct as it involves a scandal between her and another member, Fatou. Shortly after the band’s attendance at a Belgium concert in late 2021, reports started airing about mounting tension between the two members. Fatou faced allegations of bullying Leia, which invited racist hate comments from fans, and—in turn—the latter received accusations of rude hostility toward the former and her family.
Eventually, BLACKSWAN hosted a live stream as a group to apologize for the controversy and expand upon its miscommunicated nature. During the same, Leia—the Japanese-Brazillian musician—also revealed that she would be returning to Brazil to spend some time with her family and take care of her mental health. During this time, she sought out psychiatric treatment until the band took over a Belgium stage once again in the Fall of 2022. Nonetheless, the aftermath of the same concert proved to be detrimental to Leia.
Consequently, in November 2022, DR Music announced Leia’s hiatus from BLACKSWAN as she returned to Brazil to continue treatment for her mental health. Meanwhile, the group continued to work towards their comeback in her absence. As such, when a new line-up for the girl group was announced in 2023, including Fatou, Gabi, Sriya, and Nvee, Leia did not make the cut. Yet, her departure from BLACKSWAN has not been officially announced yet, cementing her status firmly in the “in-hiatus” column.
The Rift Between Liea and Fatou
The exact details of the disagreement that transpired between Leia and Fatou of BLACKSWAN have been somewhat ambiguous for some time now. Nonetheless, the docuseries’ K-Pop Idols’ sheds some light on the same. During the group’s visit to Belgium in 2021, they visited Fatou’s Belgian resident parents for dinner. However, the night ended in a disaster after—according to Fatou—Leia allegedly ended up using rude and hateful language against her and her family. For the same reason, a rift opened up between Leia and the rest of the band members.
There was also allegedly a fight between Leia and Fatou. After Leia told her mother about the situation, the latter reportedly contacted her daughter’s Brazilian fans to tell them that her bandmates were bullying the young K-pop idol. Thus, allegations and accusations emerged, leading to the controversy. Around the same time, Leia said she began to realize she no longer wanted to be a K-Pop idol—but felt trapped due to her contractual obligation. For the same reason, even though she apologized to Fatou as mentioned in the aforementioned production, her future in the group remained precarious due to her mental health problems.
Leia AKA Larissa is Sharing Her Story on Her Own Terms
After going on hiatus in late 2022, Leia’s public and social media presence has significantly diminished. In a recent TikTok post, she clarified that her absence was a result of her own choices as well as contractual obligations. Through the documentary, fans know that the young girl’s mental health treatment included various concoctions of medications. However, little else is known about the healing process she adopted to treat her condition in the past few months. During this time, Leia—who now goes by Larissa—periodically updated her fans on her life through random photo dumps on her Instagram.
More often than not, these updates included dogs, good food, and good company. Due to her contract, Larissa couldn’t work in the Korean entertainment industry until at least 2024. As such, she spent most of the hiatus simply looking after her mental health back home in Brazil with her family. However, she returned to TikTok with consistent uploads in June 2023, allowing the fans a better insight into her life. From what we can tell, Leia has moved back to Seoul, where she is looking into colleges and enjoys spending time with her friends and boyfriend.
Recently, Leia has also talked about her experience as a K-Pop idol, mostly describing the pitfalls of the job and the exhaustive training process behind it. Likewise, she has addressed her fan’s curiosity over her side of the story and has said that while she isn’t comfortable discussing it yet, she will share her story eventually. She has also expressed her apprehension over the ‘K-Pop Idol’ documentary but encouraged her fans to watch it and support her regardless. Thus, for now, Leia seems to be happy to share her life with her fans and rebuild her community.
