Presley Gerber, the son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, died Sunday at a rehabilitation facility. He was 27.
An autopsy has not been completed. The cause and manner of death are not known, and his family has asked for privacy. We would ask readers to sit with that gap rather than fill it, the way the public did not with the Hayden Panettiere investigation last month.
What his family had said
His sister, the actress Kaia Gerber, has spoken publicly about her brother’s long struggle with addiction. She described it as something that had been part of their family for most of their lives.
He died in a facility where people go to get better. That detail is the one worth holding onto, because it is the opposite of the story people will assume. He was trying.
His career
Gerber signed with IMG Models at 15. He walked for Moschino and Dolce & Gabbana during fashion weeks and appeared in campaigns for Calvin Klein and Celine.
He spent most of his adult life being photographed as somebody’s son. It is the dynamic Diana’s brother was describing on the BBC this weekend, applied to a kid who never chose any of it. In 2020 he got “misunderstood” tattooed under his eye and spent the next several years explaining it to people who had decided what it meant before they asked.
Where to find help
Addiction kills people who are in treatment. It kills people with money, access, good insurance and families who love them. That is not a footnote to this story, it is the story, and it is the reason we are including the following rather than ending on a quote.
- SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357. Free, confidential, 24/7, in English and Spanish.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988.
- Naloxone reverses opioid overdoses and is available without a prescription at most US pharmacies.
If someone in your life is in treatment right now, the period right after a stay is statistically the most dangerous stretch there is, because tolerance drops. That is worth knowing.
Sources: ABC News · KTLA · NBC Los Angeles
