Presley Gerber, the son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and entrepreneur Rande Gerber, died on the morning of September 20, 2026, at a sober living facility in Santa Monica, California. He was 27 years old. Santa Monica police responded to a report of a possible overdose at around 9:35 a. m.
and paramedics pronounced him dead at 9:45 a. m. He had checked into the facility at approximately 10:00 p. m.
the night before. Authorities said they were investigating the death as a suspected overdose with no indication of foul play. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner completed an autopsy but deferred the cause and manner of death pending further testing. The death came just over two months after his last public appearance.
In June 2026, Presley spoke at a mental health panel in Malibu for the launch of the We Are Enough bracelet collection, an event his parents attended in support. During the panel, he discussed growing up in the public eye and the pressure to present himself a certain way. He said that at 23, he finally realized he had had enough, and he described learning to tell the difference between the voices in his head and who he really was. He told the audience that the most free he felt was when he was finally honest with himself.
His sister, model Kaia Gerber, had addressed his struggles publicly just weeks before his death. In an interview published in Vogue on August 11, 2026, the magazine described Presley’s situation as a decade-long struggle with drug addiction. Kaia told Vogue that when something like that happens in a family, it levels everyone. She said she began to see herself as “the easy one” and never wanted to ask for help, explaining that it felt like too much to have two children who were needing.
Presley’s public battle with substance use spanned several years and included multiple milestones that were often interpreted differently than he may have intended. At 19, he was arrested in Beverly Hills in the early hours of December 30, 2018, on suspicion of driving under the influence. He pleaded no contest in July 2019 to driving with a blood alcohol level of . 08 or higher and received three years of probation, a DUI program, and two days of community service.
Months after that arrest, in February 2020, he posted a photo of a tattoo beneath his right eye that read “Misunderstood. ” The image drew immediate criticism, with commenters suggesting that someone with his advantages could not claim to be misunderstood. He defended the tattoo in an Instagram Live, explaining that the word reflected how he had felt his entire life. That same month, photographers captured him at a Malibu facility completing the court-ordered DUI program, though that development received far less attention.
He later had the tattoo removed. In 2023, Presley began speaking more openly. On the Studio 22 podcast, he discussed a history of depression and described caring for his mental health as a 24/7 job. The following year, he revealed that he had been fighting a severe addiction to opiates and disclosed that he had suffered a near-fatal fentanyl overdose that left him in a coma for days.
On December 1, 2025, he posted a now-deleted video to Instagram in which he listed medications he was taking for panic attacks, including buprenorphine, Xanax, and Valium. He said he had seen more than 15 different psychiatrists and claimed that many had heavily medicated him without offering a real path to recovery. He said he had been sober from alcohol for five months. He explained that he had experienced a lot of loss in many different forms recently, adding that it was not an excuse but was the reason for where he was.
He posted the video so others who felt the same way would know they were not alone, and in hopes of finding people willing to help or who knew someone who could. In March 2026, he posted about ibogaine, a psychedelic derived from the root of an African shrub that some people pursue to break addiction. People magazine later reported that he relapsed. Presley was born in 1999, a year after his parents married.
He followed his mother into modeling at a young age, signing with IMG Models at 15 and making his runway debut at Moschino in 2016 before walking for Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein. His younger sister Kaia rose even faster in the industry, being named Model of the Year at the Fashion Awards in London in December 2018. His father, Rande Gerber, posted a simple message to his son months before his death, writing, “I love you forever, Pres. ”
A representative for Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber, and Kaia Gerber issued a brief statement following his death, asking for privacy during what the family called a very difficult and painful time.
Reports citing sources described years of effort by his parents to help him, and close friends including George and Amal Clooney reportedly rallied around the family in the days after his death. His death certificate lists him as an entrepreneur who worked in mental health, reflecting the work he had given himself in his final years of telling other people the truth so they would not feel alone. Addiction experts quoted in coverage noted the dangerous reality of relapse: after a period without using, tolerance drops, and a dose once survived can become fatal. In the aftermath, tributes from friends consistently highlighted that Presley was open about his struggles because he knew it would help others.
The final photograph from June, showing Presley smiling between his parents in Malibu with his arm around his father, now stands as the image his family will carry. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, the SAMHSA National Helpline is free, confidential, and available around the clock at 1-800-662-4357.