George Clooney’s Emotional Notes to His ‘Second Son’ Presley Gerber

Presley Gerber appeared to have grown up with every advantage. The only son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and millionaire businessman Rande Gerber, he was raised amid luxury, celebrity and Hollywood’s most influential circles.

Yet beneath that privileged image, Presley struggled from an early age. His panic attacks became so intense that he was prescribed medication to help control them.

His teenage years were marked by repeated battles with addiction. He spent time in rehabilitation, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, and worked to maintain his sobriety.

On Sunday, Presley was found dead at a Los Angeles rehabilitation facility at 27. His death was suspected to be the result of an overdose.

A representative for his mother, the former 1990s cover star Cindy Crawford, confirmed the death in a statement. “The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time,” the publicist said.

Crawford, 60, Rande Gerber, 64, and their daughter Kaia Gerber, 25, had privately feared that Presley’s long-running struggles could ultimately lead to a premature death, according to a source who spoke on Monday.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the family has received support from actor George Clooney. The actor was photographed on Tuesday arriving at Kaia’s Los Angeles home with his wife, Amal.

Clooney, 65, was known to Presley and Kaia as “Uncle George.” He has been a close friend of their father for years, and the pair co-founded the tequila brand Casamigos in 2013. Clooney has also remained a familiar presence in the Gerber children’s lives.

Wearing dark sunglasses, Clooney appeared grim-faced as he stepped from a black Chevrolet on Tuesday afternoon.

“George would spend hours talking with Presley,” a source close to Clooney said. “George is the nicest guy in the world and would do anything to help Rande’s family.”

The source said Clooney had offered Presley guidance after his 2018 DUI. “Especially after Presley got a DUI, George would advise him, ‘Don’t do that, it’s not smart. Be careful,’” they said. “More recently, George sent supportive messages such as, ‘I am here for you.’”

“They were close,” another source familiar with Amal Clooney said. “Presley was more than just a friend’s child. They shared a genuine bond.”

Clooney’s efforts to encourage Presley may also have been informed by his own past experiences with drugs.

In an interview with Esquire magazine last October, Clooney said he had experimented with cocaine while working as a young actor in the early 1980s. He emphasized, however, that he never considered his drug use a serious problem.

“I did blow and stuff,” he said. “I used to joke about taking 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 our insider close to Clooney. ‘He was never addicted, but he tried it, and he knows about the attraction to drugs, so he could talk openly with Presley about this and Presley could relate. His message was always, stay clean.’

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. 

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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.

‘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.’

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Clooney, Crawford and Rande for comment.