Kaia Gerber is opening up about what it was like growing up in the spotlight as the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber — and how her memories of childhood don’t always line up with her brother Presley’s.
The 24-year-old model and actress spoke candidly about her upbringing in her Harper’s Bazaar February 2026 cover story, describing a childhood that felt both “pretty isolated” and surprisingly ordinary.
“I always went to public school. I did theater. I did every community play. I was in choir. I did singing recitals. I danced,” Gerber recalled.
© Bruce GlikasShe shared that whenever her family visited New York City, Broadway was at the top of her wish list. “I saw Wicked eight times. I had all the lyrics to Rent memorized by the time I was nine years old,” she added.
But while Kaia remembers her upbringing one way, she revealed that her older brother Presley — who is two years her senior — has a very different perspective on their early years growing up in Malibu.
“It's so interesting to articulate your own childhood, because I have a brother who's two years older, and our memories are completely contradictory, which is really fascinating and I think has taught me so much about how multiple realities can exist at once,” said Gerber, who recently vacationed with boyfriend Lewis Pullman at her parents’ Cabo home.
© Backgrid/The Grosby GroupHer comments arrive shortly after Presley made headlines for speaking publicly about his mental health struggles.
In a black-and-white video posted to Instagram on December 1, the 26-year-old model described the medication he takes to cope with what he called “night terrors” and “panic attacks.”
“I feel like honesty is the best policy,” he said from inside a sauna, revealing he is “currently” taking 1mg of Buprenorphine twice a day, a medication commonly prescribed for pain management and opioid use disorders.
© Axelle/Bauer-GriffinPresley also noted that the “benzos have been fluctuating up and down depending on what's been going on in my life.”
He added that he takes Xanax at night or when his “panic attacks are really, really bad,” and Valium “a little bit in the morning - I don't know if it's a little bit or a lot, who f***ing knows anymore.”
Reflecting on the uncertainty surrounding treatment, Presley admitted that “doctors say a lot of different things so it's kind of scary. But hopefully between my research and their research and the world and God, we can finally figure this out."
Meanwhile, Kaia also shared details about growing up surrounded by nude photographs of her iconic mother in their family home.
“They were, to me, artistic. It wasn't vulgar; it wasn't objectification,” she said, adding that it was “a gift to grow up in a house that was without shame for the female body.”
Gerber also revealed that she switched from public school to homeschooling at age 15, when her modeling career began gaining momentum.
