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When Presley Gerber, the son of former 1990s supermodel Cindy Crawford, underwent a controversial rehab treatment earlier this year, he was hopeful it would at last get his life back on track.
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it → publish → track
From a retreat in Mexico, he posted a video about his experience of taking a naturally occurring psychoactive drug called ibogaine, sometimes used to treat alcohol and substance abuse.
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he → post → abuse
'I faced what I had been running from, and somewhere in all of it, I started finding my way back to myself,' he wrote on Instagram in March.
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he → face → March
'We shall see...
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We → see → ?
Praying it's the last time I have to come back.
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I → pray → ?
Seemingly relieved at the progress, his family championed him with encouraging messages, calling him a 'warrior,' praising his 'courage' at 'facing what's hard' and making public their pride at how he had never given up despite an exhaustive decades-long battle with poor mental health.
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he → relieve → health
For on Sunday, Presley, the 27-year-old son of Crawford, 60, and millionaire businessman Rande Gerber, 64, died at a rehab facility in Los Angeles.
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Presley → die → Angeles
Presley Gerber, the son of Cindy Crawford, 60, and millionaire businessman Rande Gerber, 64, died age 27 on Sunday (seen in January)
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Gerber → die → January
Presley - pictured with younger sister Kaia, 25, and their parents - died at a rehab facility in Los Angeles
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Presley → picture → Angeles
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 September 20.
uncertain
officers → accord → September
Crawford's publicist confirmed the news in a statement: 'The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.'
Painful it will be, but perhaps not so shocking for those who knew Presley, with one insider close to the family claiming they feared his untimely death was 'inevitable.'
'I truly didn't think there was any way out for Prez,' they told the Daily Mail.
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they → confirm → Mail
'It's so sad to say, but it felt inevitable.
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it → say → ?
It wasn't that he didn't try.
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he → try → ?
He just couldn't seem to handle the pressure of being born into a famous family.
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He → seem → family
He always felt he was being judged by outsiders and had to live up to his parents' successes.
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he → feel → successes
'
Presley's life was a far cry from the typical image of a spoiled, so-called 'nepo baby.'
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life → call → baby
Thanks to nepotism, goes the stereotype, the children of the rich and famous have the contacts to waltz into any industry they choose, no matter how lacking in talent themselves.
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they → go → talent
It is a path his younger sister, model and actress Kaia Gerber, 25, has seemingly navigated with ease.
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sister → navigate → ease
She now rakes in an estimated $5 million annually as one of the world's most successful models and has also landed major roles in award-winning TV series American Horror Story and Ryan Murphy's TV adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel The Shards.
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She → rake → novel
But such an identity weighed heavy on Presley.
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identity → weigh → Presley
'When he was getting huge modeling gigs, he didn't think it was because of him,' the family friend told me.
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friend → get → me
'He thought it was because he was Cindy Crawford's son.
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he → think → ?
The stress became a huge obstacle.
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stress → become → ?
He was brought up with great love and respect for others, but his biggest problem was he didn't ever think he was enough.
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he → bring → others
Kaia is one of the world's most successful models and has also landed major roles on television
'
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Kaia → land → television
When he was getting huge modeling gigs, he didn't think it was because of him,' a family friend revealed
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friend → get → him
Born in Brentwood, California, in 1999, Presley grew up in the Californian beach city of Malibu and went to school at Malibu High.
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Presley → bear → High
Scouted at the age of 15 and signed to IMG Models, the same agency as his sister, soon he was juggling academic work with a burgeoning modeling career.
'Within the first week of signing I'm in New York and people are taking pictures of me, like, shirt off,' he recalled to the Studio 22 podcast in 2023.
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he → scout → 2023
'My whole life changed within a month, and it was just a very profound experience because I had to grow up quickly.'
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I → change → month
A year later, in 2016, he made his runway debut for Italian label Moschino and soon he was walking for brands including Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Bottega Veneta, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren.
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he → make → Burberry
His most recent gig was as the face of Celine's Eau de Californie fragrance and last year he teamed up with his family for a campaign for Californian activewear label Vuori.
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he → team → Vuori
The transition from a kid with a relatively normal existence to an in-demand model was clearly jarring for Presley who would often reflect fondly on his life pre-fame, posting old home video footage and photos on Instagram alongside captions like 'the good old days.'
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who → reflect → days
Seemingly hand-in-hand with his newfound career came a deterioration in his mental state.
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deterioration → come → state
He said himself that his 'quality of life rapidly decreased' when he went from a teenager with a sporty, structured existence – playing water polo or swimming for hours every day, pausing only to grab something to eat – to traveling the world for shoots and fashion shows and dabbling in medication for his mental health.
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he → say → health
Reflecting on his rise to fame last year, he said: 'For me it took ten years of looking back at my life being like "what changed?"
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what → reflect → life
People would always ask: "You were such a happy kid, what happened to you?"
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what → ask → you
What happened was life happened and I wasn't able to worry about one thing which was my next meal and then get back in the ocean.
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which → happen → ocean
I had to start making money and get a job.'
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I → have → job
These were comments made on one of his Mental Health Mondays videos, an Instagram initiative he launched in March 2023 to talk about his own experiences and to help others feel less alone.
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others → make → experiences
'I have struggled with mental health a lot of my adult life and starting at a very young age,' he said in the introduction video.
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he → struggle → video
…and 36 more, not listed.
The Aporia
