Megyn Kelly Calls Cindy Crawford Parenting 'Reckless' After Son Presley Gerber's Death

As Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber mourn the loss of their son, Presley, a fresh debate has emerged around the life he lived before his death.

Political commentator Megyn Kelly used her platform this week to discuss the pressures young people face when they become famous early in life, using Presley and his sister Kaia Gerber's modelling careers as examples.

While Kelly expressed her sympathies to the family, she proposed broadening the discussion about Presley to include childhood, celebrity culture and parenting.

Megyn Kelly Questions Circumstances Surrounding Presley Gerber's Death

As Kelly discussed the tragedy on the Monday episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, one question kept coming up throughout the conversation. Looking at Presley's life from the outside, Kelly said she had difficulty reconciling the opportunities available to him with his later struggles.

According to Kelly, 'He had beauty. He had money. He had, from all accounts, loving parents and a sister who adored him. He had success... in the modeling industry. He had a great education in his K through 12 schooling. He had access to very powerful people, including his own parents.'

Kelly questioned the disconnect between his public circumstances and private struggles.

'So, how does this happen? I mean, are... all of those the reasons that he became a drug addict? I don't know,' she said.

Presley had previously spoken publicly about his struggles with addiction and mental health. His death on 20 September at a rehabilitation facility is being investigated by Santa Monica police, while the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has deferred determining the cause and manner of death pending further testing.

Kelly Argues the Gerber Children Became Famous Too Early

Kelly then turned to the wider issue of young people entering the modelling industry.

Presley signed with IMG Models as a teenager, while his sister Kaia followed a similar path at an even younger age. Kelly argued that this exposed the children to adult environments before they were adequately prepared to navigate them.

'Let's face it, both kids were commercialised,' she said, pointing to Presley's own comments about growing up famous. 'You've got a teenage boy being sent over to New York, to Europe, Hollywood, and he remarked several times about how bizarre it was to grow up in Hollywood.'

She also warned about risks beyond the runway, saying, 'And you better watch him. There are predators in that industry, predators in modelling, in music, in Hollywood.'

Kelly drew attention to the fact that Presley entered the modelling industry at 15 and Kaia at 13. She described the decision as 'a reckless decision', while framing her comments as part of a broader discussion about celebrity parenting rather than a direct allegation against Crawford.

Kelly's comments came after Presley's death and should be understood as her own commentary and opinion rather than evidence that his modelling career or his parents' decisions caused his later struggles.

The Circumstances Behind Presley Gerber's Death Leave Kelly Suspicious

As Kelly spoke more about the tragedy itself, she questioned how Presley could apparently have suffered an overdose while staying at a rehabilitation facility.

'I got a lot of questions about how he OD'd in a rehab facility,' she said. 'You could not bring in anything that could even arguably possibly be used as a drug. Like, hairspray. You know, like, nothing.'

Kelly's comments were informed in part by her experience helping a loved one through addiction treatment. She described rehabilitation facilities as environments where residents can face restrictions and close supervision intended to prevent access to drugs or other prohibited substances.

She also discussed the structure of inpatient treatment programmes, saying, 'You go in voluntarily, but you're saying, keep me, keep me for 30 days.'

This led her to question how drugs could have reached Presley if he was staying in a controlled treatment environment.

'So, how did this happen?' Kelly asked. 'There's just no way he walked in with it. So, did somebody bring it to him?'

Santa Monica police are investigating Gerber's death as a suspected overdose after officers responded to a report of a possible overdose and cardiac arrest. However, the medical examiner has not confirmed an overdose as the cause of death; the cause and manner have been deferred while additional testing is conducted.