The Kid LAROI Offers a World Mental Health Day PSA: ‘You’re Worth It and You’re Not Alone’
The Kid LAROI was candid about his mental health struggles in his 2024 Prime Video documentary Kids Are Growing Up: A Story About a Kid Named LAROI. In the film, the 22-year-old Australian singer explored the difficulty of navigating adulthood in wake of near-instant fame after his collaboration with Justin Bieber on the 2021 single “Stay.”
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Now, the Grammy-nominated star has teamed up with the Millennial/Gen Z-driven mental health tech non-profit Project Healthy Minds for a public service announcement slated to run exclusively in AMC Theatres nationwide beginning in September. The PSA is timed to coincide with National Suicide Prevention Month in advance of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, which will include Project Healthy Minds’ annual World Mental Health Day Festival in New York.
“Oct. 10 is World Mental Health Day. This year, I’m celebrating with Project Healthy Minds and a new era of mental health, where stigmas are out and help is easy to find. Done with silence and sweeping things under the rug,” the musician (born Charlton Howard) says in the PSA. “Instead doing the hard work, saying the things that usually go unsaid. Because working on your mental health is uncomfortable but it’s worth it. You’re worth it and you’re not alone. So take care of your mental health.” He encourages his fans to get started on their mental health journey at the Project Healthy Minds website.
According to a release, the PSA was created to further “destigmatize the topic of mental health, widely described as the defining issue of this generation and to raise awareness about the nonprofit’s free digital platform, which connects people with mental health resources, reaching audiences nationwide.”
The singer, who has used his global platform to raise awareness about vital mental health resources, added in a statement, “Mental health touches everyone, including me. Speaking up changed my life, and I want more people to feel safe doing the same. Partnering with Project Healthy Minds helps us normalize those conversations and connect fans to free, real support.”
Project Healthy Minds focuses on closing the treatment gap in America via the world’s first digital mental health marketplace, and says its work aims to tear down such traditional barriers to care as stigma, discoverability and affordability.
“At a moment when the mental health crisis is breaking all of the wrong records, there’s something quite powerful that the iconic musician behind ‘Stay’ is telling his generation to not wait to seek help,” said Project Healthy Minds founder and CEO Phillip Schermer in a statement. “This World Mental Health Day, Project Healthy Minds couldn’t be more proud to partner with The Kid Laroi, OBB Media and AMC Theatres to destigmatize mental health and encourage every American to access mental health services via Project Healthy Minds’ free online marketplace.”
Project Healthy Minds will host its third-annual World Mental Health Day Gala and fourth-annual Festival — with The Voice‘s Carson Daly as host — on Oct. 9-10 in New York.
Check out The Kid LAROI’s PSA below.
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