Presley Gerber, son of supermodel Cindy Crawford, dies at 27

Presley Gerber, the son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and entrepreneur Rande Gerber, died on Sunday, September 20, at a rehab facility in Los Angeles. He was 27. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed the death, and his family released a statement through a representative asking for privacy during what they described as a very difficult and painful time. An autopsy had not yet been performed at the time of the announcement.

Presley's death comes roughly a month after his younger sister, model and actress Kaia Gerber, publicly discussed his struggles with addiction in an interview with Vogue. In that conversation, Kaia reflected on how her brother's battle had affected their family. "When something like that happens in a family, it kind of levels everyone," she said. She also described how witnessing his struggles had shaped her own approach to vulnerability, explaining that she had begun to see herself as "the easy one" and had resisted asking for help, feeling that having two family members in need was already too much.

Presley had been vocal about his own mental health challenges for years. Three years before his death, he appeared on the Studio 22 podcast and spoke candidly about depression and the ongoing work required to manage his wellbeing. "It's a 24/7 job, and there's so much to it," he said at the time. He expressed a desire to help others who were struggling, hoping that by sharing his own experiences and mistakes, he could spare someone else from making the same ones. "Whether I help one person or a hundred people get out of that place that I was in at one point in my life, that's all I need to do," he explained.

Beyond the podcast appearance, Presley had created a series called "Mental Health Mondays" on social media, where he shared updates and reflections on his life and ongoing journey. His willingness to be open stood in contrast to the privacy his parents had maintained throughout most of his childhood. In her Vogue interview, Kaia praised her brother for this shift in approach. "My parents for most of our lives were very, very private and didn't share anything — and now we have this absolute teacher, my brother, who says, 'I'm gonna be very human for everyone,'" she said. She reflected on the cost of silence, noting that attempting to hide struggles only deepens shame. "There's only so much you can hide from the world. And trying to put a lid on something just makes the person feel like you're ashamed of them."

Presley's openness about his mental health and addiction had made him a visible figure in conversations about vulnerability and recovery, even as he continued to navigate his own path. His death marks the end of a public effort to destigmatize the very struggles he had been working to address.