J Balvin and Valentina Ferrer split after nearly a decade together

J Balvin and Valentina Ferrer have split after almost ten years together. Ferrer confirmed the news on Sept. 16 with a statement posted to Instagram Stories. Billboard

The announcement was brief and direct. Instagram Stories are short posts that disappear after a day, and public figures often use them to share personal news in their own words. In this case, the message travelled well beyond those first viewers.

In the statement, Ferrer said she and José had decided to take separate paths. She spoke of years and important moments they had shared together before reaching that point. She used José, Balvin's first name, rather than his stage name.

She said their priority will continue to be supporting their son, Rio. That single line carried the weight of the message. It placed parenting at the centre of what comes next.

Rio was born in June 2021. He is now 5 years old. E! News

The couple never married. Their relationship was widely publicised over the years, with joint appearances and family posts, but it did not include a wedding. That detail matters because long partnerships are often assumed to be marriages.

They first met in 2017, according to People. The meeting was work before it was anything else. It came on the set of a music video.

Ferrer, an Argentine model, appeared in Balvin's video for 'Sigo Extrañándote', as noted by Hola. She played his wife in the story told in the clip. An on-set meeting grew into a partnership that lasted through most of the next decade.

The timeline runs from that 2017 meeting to the 2021 arrival of Rio to the Sept. 2026 announcement. Nine years is a long span in public life. It covers a move from new couple to parents of a school-age child.

For fans, this means a familiar pairing will no longer appear together in the same way. The statement carried no accusation and no dispute. It read as a request for space around a family change, with the focus kept on a child.

What makes this stand out is its calm tone. Short sentences. One voice. No extra commentary attached to the confirmed message.

No further detail was given in the statement that has been confirmed so far. Balvin has not issued a separate public comment in the accounts confirmed to date.