Presley Gerber, the model son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and Casamigos cofounder Rande Gerber, was found dead at a Southern California rehab facility on Sunday, September 20, 2026, hours after he checked in. He was 27. His death has been confirmed as a suspected overdose.
Gerber arrived at Resolutions Living of Santa Monica at 10 p.m. on Saturday, September 19, a law enforcement source told NBC News. Authorities found him in the bedroom where he had gone to sleep, his body already cold, and he had likely been dead for some time. He had gone into cardiac arrest.
Santa Monica police said officers responded at roughly 9:35 a.m. after someone reported what appeared to be an overdose, and discovered a man who had died. The department reported no indication of foul play and said its investigation was continuing. Gerber died of an apparent overdose, and the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner said additional testing is necessary before a cause and manner of death can be determined. Crawford’s publicist confirmed the death and asked that the family be left in peace during a difficult and painful time.
Tributes From Friends and Peers
Nicola Peltz, 31, a friend of Gerber’s, said she was truly devastated. “Presley was pure light in this world, he had the kindest heart,” Peltz said. She added that she felt lucky to have had him in her life, that she would never forget his kindness or the way he turned up for the people close to him, and she offered her condolences to his family.
Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, another friend who paid tribute, said he was heartbroken. “Presley you were the kindest and we are going to miss you so much x we love you,” he said.
Paris Hilton wrote on social media that she was completely heartbroken and still could not believe the news was real, remembering Gerber as a beautiful soul and a gentle, caring young man. Jason Kennedy said the news left him feeling sick to his stomach, and credited Gerber with talking openly about his struggles because he knew it would help other people — which, Kennedy said, it did. He also said he had felt a close bond with Gerber, and that watching his parents love him had been beautiful to see.
A Career That Began at 15
Born in Beverly Hills, California, in 1999, Gerber was the eldest child of Crawford and Rande Gerber, who married in 1998. IMG Models signed him at 15, and he walked his first runway show for Moschino in Los Angeles at 17, later appearing for Dolce & Gabbana and fronting international campaigns for Calvin Klein and Celine. At 18, he starred alongside his mother in a 2018 advertisement re-creating her 1992 Super Bowl commercial for Pepsi. That same year, the family — Crawford, Rande Gerber, Presley and his younger sister, the model and actress Kaia Gerber — was photographed together in London.
The attention that came with the surname was not always kind. In December 2018, he was arrested in Beverly Hills and charged with driving under the influence (DUI). He pleaded no contest and received three years’ probation, along with orders to complete a DUI program and two days of community service. In 2020, he unveiled a face tattoo that read “MISUNDERSTOOD,” telling viewers in an Instagram video that the word captured how he had felt his entire life. He apparently had the ink removed a year later.
Speaking Openly About Addiction and Anxiety
Rather than retreat, Gerber turned his struggles outward. He started an Instagram video series called “Mental Health Mondays,” saying he wanted to prompt honest conversations about the things most people keep hidden. In a February 2023 appearance on the Studio 22 podcast, he called mental health a big part of his life and a round-the-clock job, and said that pulling even one person out of the place he had once been in would be enough for him.
He was equally candid about the medical side of it. In a since-deleted December 2025 video, Gerber said he was taking buprenorphine, Xanax and Valium to manage his symptoms and treat panic attacks, and described the conflicting advice he was getting from doctors as scary. In a March 26 Instagram post, he wrote that he had undergone an ibogaine “flood dose,” calling the experience frightening but saying he had finally confronted what he had been running from. In November, he told followers he needed to pull back for a time to look after his own mental health.
Kaia Gerber, in an August 2026 Vogue cover story that addressed her brother’s decade-long struggle with drug addiction, spoke to the magazine about what the family had been through. Their parents had kept almost everything private for most of their lives, she said, while her brother had taken the opposite path, choosing to be openly human in front of everyone. Trying to hide something, she added, only leaves the person at the center of it feeling like a source of shame.
In July, for her son’s 27th birthday, Crawford posted two photographs of him — one as a small child, one as a young teenager — alongside a message of pride and love. He was dead. As of September 21, the investigation remained open, with Santa Monica police reporting no sign of foul play and the county medical examiner awaiting further testing before ruling on how Gerber died.