A month after his death from a suspected overdose, the family of Presley Gerber posted a pair of online tributes to the 27-year-old model on Sunday, stating that they were “beyond heartbroken to lose our beloved son and brother.”
The statements were posted on the Instagram accounts of Gerber’s parents — Cindy Crawford, the supermodel, and her husband, Rande Gerber, a businessman — and that of Presley’s younger sister, Kaia, a model and actress.
Crawford’s and Rande Gerber’s posts featured a black-and-white photo of Presley Gerber partly framed by a pair of wings, with a statement expressing gratitude for “the outpouring of love and support from so many who know and love our family and even strangers who feel our pain.”
“We feel so blessed to have had Presley in our lives for 27 years,” the statement said, calling him “a sweet, beautiful soul who loved and is loved, now and forever.”
“Til we meet again our sweet boy,” read the statement, which was signed “Mom, Dad and Kaia.”
Kaia Gerber posted a longer and rawer testimonial addressed to her brother, whom she called “prez,” paired with a video of them dancing together as children.
“i’ve read all the books and i have none of the answers,” Kaia wrote. “my articulation is no match against this, the magnitude of losing you.”
“I am, quite literally, down on my knees,” she added, using an epithet to emphasize her sorrow.
Presley Gerber died on Sept. 20 at a rehab center in Santa Monica, Calif. The Santa Monica police said that they were investigating the death as a possible overdose, though officials in Los Angeles County said it might be months before an official cause of death would be determined.
Gerber, who began working as a model as a teenager, had been open about his struggles with addiction, posting a series of more than two dozen first-person videos in the years before his death, speaking about his efforts to break free from dependencies on opiates and other prescription medications. He also spoke about his mental health, which he sometimes described as fragile, once using a metaphor from surfing — one of his passions — and likening his anxiety to having your back turned to a giant wave that’s “going to land on your head.”
“That’s exactly what I feel like almost all the time,” he said.
Gerber said that he had done several stints in rehab, starting when he was 18 or 19. Over the years, Gerber said, he took a broad array of medications, including anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants, as well as substances like kratom and ketamine, both of which he said he used to wean from other drugs.
In a final video he posted in March, he was seen trying ibogaine, a psychedelic that some people with addiction say has helped prevent cravings and ease withdrawal symptoms.
In a recent interview with Vogue — published before Presley’s death — Kaia spoke about her brother’s addiction, saying, “We have this absolute teacher, my brother, who says, ‘I’m gonna be very human for everyone.’”
And in her statement on Sunday, Kaia echoed that praise, saying “you believed people were inherently good because, presley, you are inherently good.” She called her brother “my best buddy, my great protector.”
“this party sucks so bad without you, prez,” she added.
Kaia’s statement also spoke in wrenching terms about the siblings’ intensely close relationship.
“to say loving you was the easiest thing in the world would imply that it required any effort at all,” she wrote. “i was born loving you, i will die loving you.”
She recalled an experience of having their ears pierced as children, and her brother going first because she was scared.
“you always went first,” she said. “but when i held the earring they took from your body, all I could think was: that belongs to you.”
“and i really wish,” she said, using an epithet, “you hadn’t gone first this time.”
The post Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber Honor Presley Gerber in Statements appeared first on New York Times.
