You may have heard about Cindy Crawford’s daughter, Kaia Gerber, but we bet you haven’t heard about her son, Presley Gerber. Presley’s dad is also a supermodel; Rande Gerber started as a model before becoming a tequila mogul. Presley was first introduced to the public when he appeared in his mother’s famous Pepsi commercial in 1992. Then, he started his own modeling career at 16 years old when he walked the runway for Moschino. Since then, he’s modeled for brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and most recently, Celine.
But despite his success as a model and his good looks, he’s had struggles in the tabloids and a chaotic track record on social media. Despite having a glamorous life, Presley’s life has also been filled with tragedies.
Presley Gerber was arrested for driving under the influence
When he was 19, Presley was caught speeding in his Tesla in Beverly Hills. After the cop pulled him over for reckless driving, he was charged with a DUI, which resulted in a fine and a suspended license. He was also forced to complete a DUI program.
Presley Gerber’s face tattoo is controversial
By 2020, this model had gone from barely inked to covered in tattoos on his neck, torso and arms. He also got a face tat on his right cheek that read “misunderstood” which he received backlash for. Many people said he was ruining his modeling career, but Presley stood up for himself on Instagram Live, saying that he felt misunderstood his whole life and that his mom supported him in getting the tattoo. However, just a year later, he had it removed.
He felt pressure as the nepo baby of Cindy Crawford
Having a successful family isn’t always easy. While Presley was always in the headlines for negative things, the rest of his family had a pristine reputation. The tabloids said it was a form of rebellion, and a source told Us Weekly that he was trying to get away from the “shadow of his family” and didn’t mind the negative attention if it meant carving his own identity.
Presley Gerber parents thought his actions were a cry for help
Every kid has a rebellious phase, but Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber found their son’s struggles heartbreaking. While they hoped it was a phase, things just kept getting worse. He would post footage of himself at a gun range and was even in the hospital after a mountain biking accident. Sources said his parents were concerned and wanted him to get mental health help. According to them, he has already been in treatment.
After engagement rumors, Presley Gerber suffered a public breakup
In 2022, Presley Gerber teased the internet by claiming he had proposed to his girlfriend Lexi Woods, Woods, whom he had been dating for less than a year at the time. Woods seemed to be in on the joke as she reposted the post on Instagram, and the internet had a lot of questions for them. But just a month after the supposed engagement, the couple broke up, wiping each other from their respective Instagram accounts.
Presley Gerber’s ongoing struggle with depression
On the Studio 22 podcast, Presley Gerber shared that he had mental health problems and that depression was a big part of it. He even started his own initiative to raise awareness about mental health problems in an Instagram series called “Mental Health Mondays,” where he shared practices that boost mental health. The goal was to encourage others to discover healthy coping mechanisms.
He worried modeling would bring a life of instability
Presley Gerber’s family has a pretty impressive track record of modeling. Presley himself even won the Emerging Model of The Year award when he was just 17. But despite all this, he didn’t enjoy working as a model and stepped away for a bit. On the Studio 22 podcast, he shared that having a constantly inconsistent schedule” created instability in his life, and he instead wanted to use his platform as a model to pursue other passions like getting a real estate license.
Being bullied on social media impacted Presley Gerber
After years of being scrutinized excessively by the tabloids and receiving hate on social media, Gerber addressed his haters on social media. But as he grew older, he reflected on the social media mob mentality and opened up about how it affected his mental health. On his Mental Health Monday series, he shared advice on how to navigate the storm that is social media, saying to ignore the comments and not let “keyboard warriors” affect him on a daily basis. He suggested people regularly do a social media detox to avoid letting the negative energy get to them.
Presley Gerber opened up about suffering from addiction
In August 2024, Presley filmed an Instagram story that shared a shocking truth: he was suffering with “a current, very high opioid addiction,” which he’d been dealing with on and off for years. He said that he was in recovery for it and was preparing to receive ibogaine treatment, which is a treatment where a psychedelic is administered to treat the addiction.
