The Sad Story Behind Presley Gerber's Face Tattoo And What He's Said About It

Presley Gerber, the son of model Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, garnered a fair amount of social media backlash back in early 2020 when he got the word "misunderstood" tattooed across his cheek. Gerber, a model in his own right, was quick to respond to some of the negative comments, seemingly implying that those who were upset at him for inking his face were part of the reason he did it in the first place.

"You don't know how I feel. You're not in my head. ... I don't feel very understood, I guess," Gerber said in an Instagram Live video addressing the backlash (via People). "If anyone has s— to say to me about this, or anything else, or my family, or how I grew up ... I will give you my address — I promise — and you can come say it to my face." Gerber continued, "If I thought this was going to ruin my face or I didn't want this, I wouldn't have done it. I think that's a pretty obvious thing. It says misunderstood, because that's how I felt my entire life" (via Page Six).

Gerber evidently came to terms with what prompted him to get the tattoo, as he eventually had it removed. However, it seems to have been the product of something that was very much weighing on him at that particular moment in time. Notably, Gerber has been open about the mental health struggles he's faced over the years.

While Presley Gerber was firing back at those who were criticizing his face tattoo, certain comments he made resulted in an additional round of backlash. In a post to his Instagram Stories, the model compared the ink to other body-modification procedures. "Most and a lot of people can get face lifts, change genders, lip injections, etc[.] and it's offensive to say anything in today's day [and] age but I get a little face tattoo and now people love to hate me," he wrote (via People). "Hmmmm?"

Some onlookers took issue with Gerber seemingly comparing the backlash over his tattoo to the struggles faced by the transgender community and other gender non-conforming individuals. "There is no comparison, attempting to do so was unacceptable," one X (formerly Twitter) user wrote in a now-deleted post (via Paper). Another user wrote, "And here's Presley Gerber comparing getting a 'misunderstood' face tattoo to being transgender."

And here's Presley Gerber comparing getting a "misunderstood" face tattoo to being transgender pic.twitter.com/r1OZmf0q9Y

— Hunter Reis (@hunterreis) March 12, 2020

Gerber does not appear to have ever responded to these specific criticisms.

There are some conflicting reports regarding how Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber reacted to their son's face tattoo. In the aforementioned Instagram Live video, Presley Gerber's then-girlfriend and fellow model Cameron Rorrison commented, "His parents love it, by the way" (per People).

A month after Gerber debuted the tattoo, however, an inside source told Us Weekly that the whole thing was a bit difficult for his folks, though they apparently acknowledged that they had to let their son make his own choices. "Cindy is a very organized person who knows what she wants and knows what it takes to be successful. Presley is growing up and learning his way," the source said. "He is definitely going through something bigger and more than that," they continued. "It's hard for his parents to see."

A separate source gave Us Weekly some insight into Gerber's mindset the previous month, around the time he first showed off his "misunderstood" tattoo and began clapping back at critics. "Presley is obviously going through a super rebellious phase right now," they said. "He is trying to get out of the shadow of his family and find his own way and create his own identity. He also likes the attention he's been getting, even if negative, from his tattoo and recent posts."

In March 2020, just one month after first unveiling his "misunderstood" tattoo, Presley Gerber faced another wave of comments after he seemingly got his face inked a second time. On Instagram, he posted a selfie where what appeared to be a Los Angeles Dodgers logo could be seen on the side of his face. According to People, comments on the photo ranged from "Please! Leave your beautiful face alone" to Please, stop inking up your handsome face. Listen to the people who love you most ... your parents!"

But as it turns out, the LA Dodgers logo wasn't a tattoo at all. ... It was an Instagram filter. As per People, Gerber explained as much in a subsequent post to Instagram Stories, where he posted a second selfie with the supposed "ink" no longer visible. "It was a filter lol damn," he wrote. "Also I don't 'want to be hood' wtf u don't know me chill I'm grateful if I wanted to I could be posting money n s— but I don't so stfu please or imma delete my gram it stressful." While Gerber did not in fact delete his Instagram outright, the post that sparked this second wave of drama has since been removed.

At some point after all the social media chatter died down, Presley Gerber decided to get his "misunderstood" face tattoo removed. People took notice in August 2021, when a clean-faced Gerber was spotted out in public.

Gerber addressed his tattoo removal during an appearance on the "Studio 22 Podcast" in February 2023 — almost exactly three years after he initially revealed the face ink. "I got a face tattoo, then I got it removed," he said (via Daily Mail). "That was really the last big, visible tattoo that I got. I ran out of space real quick." While the model didn't say too much else about his since-erased "misunderstood" tattoo, he did open up about his tattoo journey in general.

"Gratitude is one hell of a thing man. ... That was my first tattoo," Gerber shared. "At 15 years old I had a really interesting experience and I literally went and got my first tattoo. He was in Canada, the guy in there didn't check my ID, bing bong, came home with a tattoo." He added that since he got the vast majority of his tattoos while he was very young, he more or less stopped getting them altogether by that point. (Gerber was 23 going on 24 at the time of the "Studio 22 Podcast" interview.) That said, he does see becoming a tattoo artist as a potential career path.