Cindy Crawford’s Daughter Kaia Spoke About Brother Presley Gerber’s Addiction Weeks Before His Death

Cindy Crawford and husband Rande Gerber’s son Presley Gerber has died at the age of 27. TMZ first reported the heartbreaking news on Sunday, September 20. Just weeks before Presley’s death, his younger sister Kaia Gerber spoke candidly in Vogue about her brother’s substance abuse issues.

Kaia opened up about Presley’s decade-long struggle with addiction and mental health issues: “When something like this happens in a family, it kind of levels everyone.”

She continued, “I think that’s also why I started to self-identify as the easy one and never wanted to ask for help. Because it felt like too much to have two children who were needing.”

The model/actress also praised her brother’s efforts to overcome his addiction, “My parents for most of our lives were very, very private and didn’t share anything — and now we have this absolute teacher, my brother, who says, ‘I’m gonna be very human for everyone.’ There’s only so much you can hide from the world. And trying to put a lid on something just makes the person feel like you’re ashamed of them.”

As his sister explained, Presley didn’t hide his substance abuse issues from the public. He often spoke about overcoming his challenges on Instagram, sharing “Mental Health Mondays” posts, and in March, he detailed an experience with an experimental addiction treatment, writing, “I was absolutely terrified, and I knew I would be again if I ever had to face something like this (helps not to go into the situations you do that get ya there but that’s life sometimes.) My mantras were love yourself and this gotta be the last time for this reason. 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. I faced what I had been running from, and somewhere in all of it, I started finding my way back to myself.”

As of now, there is no additional information on the cause of death. Crawford’s spokesperson issued a statement, telling ABC News, “The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.”