From the outside, Presley Gerber appeared to have every advantage. The only son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and multimillionaire businessman Rande Gerber, he was raised in lavish homes surrounded by wealth, celebrity and Hollywood’s most recognizable figures.
Yet his struggles began early. Presley experienced panic attacks so intense that he was prescribed medication to help manage them.
His teenage years were marked by turmoil, including time in rehab, a DUI arrest and charge, and an ongoing effort to remain sober.
On Sunday, Presley was found dead at a Los Angeles rehabilitation facility in what is suspected to have been an overdose. He was 27.
A publicist representing his mother, 1990s cover star Cindy Crawford, confirmed the death in a statement, saying: “The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.”
An insider claimed Monday that Crawford, 60, Rande Gerber, 64, and their daughter Kaia Gerber, 25, had feared Presley’s death could come prematurely and described it as tragically “inevitable.”
“He just couldn’t seem to handle the pressure of being born into a famous family,” the source told Our News Outlet.
Following the loss, the family is expected to receive support from another prominent figure: actor George Clooney. On Tuesday, Clooney was photographed arriving at Kaia Gerber’s Los Angeles home with his wife, Amal.
Clooney, 65, was affectionately known as “Uncle George” to Presley and Kaia. He has been a longtime friend of Rande Gerber, with whom he co-founded tequila brand Casamigos in 2013, and has remained a presence in the Gerber children’s lives.
George Clooney was photographed arriving at Kaia Gerber’s Los Angeles home with his wife, Amal, on Tuesday
George Clooney is said to be devastated by the death of his close friend Rande Gerber’s 27-year-old son, Presley. He is pictured in 2015
Presley Gerber, the son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, died at a rehabilitation facility on Sunday
“George would spend hours talking with Presley. He is the nicest guy in the world and would do anything to help Rande’s family,” said a source close to Clooney.
“Especially after Presley received a DUI in 2018, George would tell him, ‘Don’t do that, it’s not smart. Be careful.’ More recently, he sent supportive messages such as, ‘I am here for you.’”
“They were close. Presley was more than just a friend’s child; they shared a genuine bond,” said another source close to Amal Clooney.
Clooney’s encouragement may also have reflected his own past experiences with substance use.
In an interview with Esquire magazine last October, Clooney said he had experimented with cocaine as a young actor in the early 1980s, while emphasizing that it never became a serious problem for him.
“I did blow and stuff,” he said. “I used to make jokes about how I did too many drugs, but the truth is, it was never a big issue for me at all.”
“George had his own experiences with substances,” said the Clooney insider. “He was never addicted, but he tried them and understood their appeal, allowing him to speak openly with Presley about the subject. Presley could relate to him. George’s message was always: stay clean.”
Rande Gerber and George Clooney first met in the mid-1990s at The Whiskey, a bar Gerber owned at New York City’s Paramount Hotel. They are pictured in 2018
Also in that circle is Julia Roberts, who is a family friend. Seen here are Roberts with her husband Danny Moder and Clooney with his wife Amal in January
George Clooney and Cindy Crawford at the 2026 WWD Style Awards in January
Presley never admitted to taking cocaine but did reveal in various confessional social media posts that he struggled with a cocktail of other drugs: powerful opiates, Xanax and Valium for anxiety, Buprenorphine (used to treat opioid addiction), Mirtazapine and Prazosin for night terrors, ketamine and Adderall among others.
In 2024, he revealed that he had survived a fentanyl overdose that left him in a coma for several days. He had also completed several stints in rehab, most recently checking in to Resolutions Living in Santa Monica, California, mere hours before his suspected overdose on Sunday.
His death has come as ‘a major shock’ to Clooney.
‘George is sick over this because Rande is his best friend and everyone felt for Presley,’ said our insider. ‘There is no anger or shame, just deep sadness. Presley had a real problem with depression and anxiety. No one can fault him for that. Presley was living a nightmare.’
According to the source close to Amal, the death has devastated everyone in their close-knit Hollywood circle, which includes the likes of Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt.
‘It’s just awful. I know that George is so sad about it. This is devastating for everyone in that circle,’ the source close to Amal said.
Presley’s death has been a ‘tremendous gut punch’ for Clooney, added an industry insider.
‘George wears his heart on his sleeve, and he really, really loved Presley. He knew Presley had his struggles, so while you can’t say something like this was completely unimaginable, that doesn’t make it any less shocking or devastating,’ they said.
‘It was an incredibly painful and unwanted surprise, and honestly, a tremendous gut punch for George.’
Rande and Clooney first met in the mid-1990s at The Whiskey, a bar businessman Rande owned at the Paramount Hotel in New York City. At the time, Clooney was filming a movie in New York. They have been best friends ever since.
In 1998, Rande married supermodel Crawford, and they all became close.
Clooney, who didn’t have his own children until 2017, when he and Amal welcomed twins Alexander and Ella, grew close to the Gerber kids. Presley was born first in 1999, and then Kaia came along in 2001.
‘George was around Presley a lot when he was growing up, he was Uncle George and they were all pals, really like family,’ the first source shared.
‘Often Cindy and Rande would take the kids to George’s old house in Studio City (LA) for dinner, to swim, and to hang out, or George would come to their house in Malibu. They had a lot of dinners together, a lot of downtime. The Gerbers also visited George in Italy quite often.
Presley started hitting red carpets at a young age. Seen with his sister and mother in 2007 in Anaheim, California
Presley dressed as known drug user and author Hunter S Thompson for Halloween in 2023. Seen with Kaia and her boyfriend at the time Austin Butler as well as his parents
He had celebrity friends too like William Peltz and Brooklyn Peltz Beckham. Seen at the Cloud23 Launch Party at Bar Marmont in LA in 2024
‘They used to hang out in Mexico together a lot too, they had side-by-side homes and the kids were always around having fun. More recently, they would hang out in New York City, they always caught up over dinner.’
Clooney and Rande co-founded the Casamigos Tequila brand together in 2013, and later launched the non-alcoholic beer Crazy Mountain in March this year.
According to a statement released by the Santa Monica Police Department on Monday, officers ‘responded to a report of a possible overdose’ at approximately 9.35am on Sunday. They added: ‘At this time, there is no indication of foul play.’
Moving forward, the industry insider said Clooney will be focused on how he can best support the family: ‘He feels absolutely awful for Rande and the entire family, and he wants them to know that he is there for them in any way, shape or form.
‘George has always been the person people turn to when they’re going through something, and with something of this magnitude, that isn’t going to change. It doesn’t matter how busy he is or what he has going on in his own life – if Rande or anyone in the family needs him, everything else stops. It’s really that simple.’
In a way, Presley felt like a son to Clooney, the source added: ‘Presley was part of George’s family. This isn’t George’s tragedy alone, and he would never make it about himself, but he is feeling this loss deeply.
‘Right now, the only thing he really wants to do is be there for Presley’s family, help them in any way he can and get through this together. That’s what family does.’
Our News Outlet has contacted representatives for Clooney, Crawford and Rande for comment.
