Presley Gerber spoke candidly about facing what he had “been running from” in a March Instagram post from a wellness clinic in Cancún, Mexico, months before his death at 27.
The model, the only son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, shared footage of himself preparing for an ibogaine treatment at the facility, captioning it “Pre ibogaine flood dose – quiet moment before everything changed.” He had struggled with addiction for roughly a decade and was at an undisclosed rehab facility when he died Sunday; an autopsy has yet to be completed.
In the March post, Presley described his emotional state before the psychedelic-assisted therapy. “I was absolutely terrified, and I knew I would be again if I ever had to face something like this (helps to not go into the situations you do that get ya there but that’s life sometimes.) (my mantras were love yourself and lis gotta be the last time for this reason.”
He continued, writing, “Letting go of control didn’t come easy, but I trusted there was something bigger than me guiding it. I knew why I was there.” The post reflected a man confronting long-avoided pain. “I faced what I had been running from, and somewhere in all of it, i started finding my way back to myself.”
Presley concluded with cautious hope about his recovery. “We shall see… Praying it’s the last time I have to come back. Next time I’d like to choose.” He thanked the “incredible, caring [and] kind” team at the Mexican facility for their support during the process.
The response from his family was immediate and emotional. His sister, Kaia Gerber, commented that she was “so damn proud” of her older brother. Crawford wrote, “You are a warrior. Walked thru [sic] the fire to find yourself. So proud!” Rande Gerber shared his own message of support, saying he was “proud” of his son and his “courage.”
“Facing what’s hard takes real strength and watching you find your way back to yourself is everything. I love you so much,” Rande added.
Presley had turned to ibogaine, a psychoactive compound derived from the root bark of the West African shrub Tabernanthe iboga, which has been used to address opioid addiction. A 2025 Stanford study found it can effectively treat traumatic brain injuries in military veterans. “No other drug has ever been able to alleviate the functional and neuropsychiatric symptoms of traumatic brain injury,” associate professor of psychiatry Nolan Williams said of the research.
The model first disclosed the severity of his struggles in 2024, revealing a years-long opiate addiction and a near-fatal fentanyl overdose that had put him in a coma for several days. He also said he had developed a dependency on prescription medications after seeing more than 15 psychiatrists who he claimed heavily medicated him without providing structured recovery direction.
In a now-deleted video from last December, Presley addressed his use of antidepressants and Xanax for panic attacks. “Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of loss in many different forms recently,” he said. “So that is not an excuse, but it’s the reason why I am where I’m at now.”
Kaia, 23, spoke about her brother’s battle just a month before his death, telling Vogue that addiction “kind of levels everyone” in a family. She described Presley as “very human,” offering a rare glimpse into how the Gerber family had navigated his public struggles together.
Presley made his modeling debut at 16 for the Italian brand Moschino and had worked steadily in fashion before his personal battles increasingly became part of his public narrative. The March Cancún post represented one of his most direct attempts to document his recovery process for his followers, blending vulnerability with the hope that this intervention might finally turn the corner.
The circumstances of his death at the undisclosed rehab facility remain under investigation pending the completion of an autopsy.