J Balvin to Host Docuseries With Celebs Sharing Mental Health Battles and Coping Mechanisms

In the past few years, J Balvin has become very transparent about his mental health. The Colombian singer and rapper, who deals with anxiety and depression, has been using his platform to normalise these conversations, especially within the Latinx community, where therapy and mental health issues are still treated as taboo. In his Amazon Prime documentary, The Boy From Medellín, Balvin gets incredibly candid about his chemical imbalance and the things he does to fight depression and anxiety. Balvin doesn’t plan on shying away from this topic anytime soon. In fact, in collaboration with NBC News Studios, he will be hosting a new six-part docuseries titled Gente Sana with Exile Content Studio to release on Peacock in the fall. In each episode, the reggaeton artist will sit with a different celebrity, who will intimately share about their own mental health challenges while also providing the coping mechanisms and tools that have helped them along their healing journey.

“As someone who has always been open about my own struggles with mental health, I feel humbled that Exile and NBC have given me a platform to continue having these open and honest conversations with others who are in my shoes,” Balvin was quoted as saying in a press release. “Mental health is something that’s very important to me and something I know many of us have struggled with, and I look forward to creating content that will help anyone struggling with mental health issues to see they are not alone and there are many ways to cope.”

While we’ve definitely seen progress within the Latinx community when it comes to having more candid and intimate conversations regarding mental health, it has at times felt stagnant, especially when it’s coming from celebrities. Having public figures like Balvin open up about their own mental health battles is certainly significant when it comes to normalising these conversations. But outside of increasing awareness and acceptance surrounding mental health, it doesn’t offer a ton of solutions. What’s exciting about this new docuseries is that it appears to be going beyond just having the dialogue, with guest celebrities sharing the specific coping mechanisms, practices, and rituals that have actually helped them. Some of the celebrity guests Balvin will be speaking with include comedian and actor Kevin Hart, Selena Gomez (who has also been very candid in recent years about her own mental health issues), and Dwayne Johnson.

We’re excited to see what some of these celebrity guests share and the solutions they have to offer. One thing is for sure, this is certainly needed.