Tragic Details About Cindy Crawford

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The following article contains mentions of sexual harassment and mental health issues.

Back in 1986, after winning the Elite Look of the Year award, Cindy Crawford left Chicago's Northwestern University for New York City to kick off her modeling career — and never looked back. For the better part of 15 years, she worked her way up and became one of the most iconic models of her time. "[Over the years,] I've been able to assert myself more. As a young model, you show up and don't contribute much," Crawford explained to Elle in January 2025. "But as you get more confidence, you can be ... more collaborative. The more I felt like I was being heard, the more fun it was."

Despite working her way up the ladder, the model became semiretired in 2000 and focused on other ventures, including acting, entrepreneurship, and motherhood. But while her success is undeniable, Crawford has unfortunately also dealt with several devastating blows throughout her life, starting from when she was just a child. From the heartbreaking loss of a close family member to the trials and tribulations of her adolescence, love life, and the difficulties the supermodel's kids (who look just like their famous parents) have endured, here are the tragic details about Cindy Crawford.

It isn't uncommon for young children to first learn about loss and grief through the death of an older relative, like a grandparent. However, the unthinkable sometimes happens to a family, including Cindy Crawford's. Raised by a young mother and working father in a small Illinois town, the model had an older sister, a younger sister, and a baby brother, Jeff. Tragically, when Crawford's brother was just 2, he was diagnosed with leukemia. "My mother ... didn't want him to stay in the hospital," the model explained while on the podcast "Kelly Corrigan Wonders: About Your Mother" in November 2024. "So she would drive two hours to Madison, [Illinois,] which is where he was treated every day, and then drive back."

While Crawford's mother was busy taking Jeff to his appointments and her father worked overtime to pay the bills, extended family took care of Crawford and her sisters. "We knew he was sick, but we didn't really know what was going on," she said. "I think when he died, obviously that was devastating for the whole family." Jeff died two years after his diagnosis when Crawford was 10 years old. While her mom managed her grief through her faith, the model's family didn't have enough money to get professional help. When she was 16 years old, Crawford said, "I begged for [therapy] and my mother's just like, 'Are you out of your mind? We can't afford that.'"

At just 12, 10, and 6 years old, Cindy Crawford and her sisters were understandably left with a lot of difficult feelings after their little brother died. Part of this was due to the fact that — as the model realized many years later — their father had desperately longed for a son before Jeff came along. "There's that survivor's guilt of the other kids, and especially because we knew that my dad really wanted a boy," Crawford said on the "Kelly Corrigan Wonders: About Your Mother" podcast. "We felt like, well, it should've been one of us." For years, the sisters all dealt with similar nightmares to one another about their brother's death.

"I remember when I went back to school after my brother died, and not one person said one thing to me," Crawford recalled. The lack of acknowledgment played on her mind for years, and only after she sought therapy during the pandemic did she realize that there was something she needed to hear from her mother during this difficult time. "My mom wouldn't have known to say this, she was 26 years old and had just lost a child," Crawford remarked. "But I needed to hear: 'Yes, we're so sad that Jeff died. But we're so happy you are here.'"

It's hard to imagine a glamorous Vogue and Playboy cover model being anything but confident, but Cindy Crawford was actually the victim of bullies when she was in high school. In her 2015 book "Becoming," an autobiography filled with photographs and personal essays, she detailed growing up in DeKalb, Illinois, in an "all-American, blue-collar family." While her childhood had its pleasant qualities, Crawford dreamed of more, and she wrote, "I knew, even then, that somehow my path would take me beyond the comforts of that familiar place." With her sights set high, she was ecstatic when she received a call from a clothing store about a modeling job when she was in 10th grade.

Crawford got all dolled up and arrived at the store, ready to strike a pose — but the manager had no idea what she was talking about. "I felt all the air leave my body," the model wrote. "I ran out of the store as fast as I could, only to see two girls from my high school standing on the corner laughing. I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach."

Even upon successfully landing a modeling job not long afterward, the pranks didn't stop. Crawford's first professional shoot was for a bra advertisement that appeared in the Chicago Tribune. "Within hours [it] was plastered all over my high school," she noted. But this time, Crawford wasn't as bothered. "[W]hat did I care? I had made $150."

From Marilyn Monroe to Sophia Loren to Kate Upton, beauty marks have been the trademarks of a number of stunning women. While it's undoubtedly one of her signature features, what you might not know about Cindy Crawford is that she actually hated the mole above her lip. Like any teen, she was self-conscious in school. "I hated my eyebrows and my hair," she wrote in her book "Becoming." Crawford added, "The mole was the thing I got teased about and was embarrassed about, and that set me apart."

With the encouragement of her classmates and even her sister who referred to the mole as her "ugly mark," the model asked her mom to let her get it removed. But as Crawford told British Vogue in May 2014, "[M]y mother always said, 'You know what your mole looks like, you don't know what the scar is going to look like.'" And so it stayed. Over the years, some makeup artists Crawford worked with would try covering it up, and some editors would remove her mole in published photos. But after the model made the cover of Vogue in 1986 with her beauty mark on full display, the stigma seemed to die down.

Crawford has since learned to accept and even appreciate the iconic mole on her face. "[I]t's the thing that made people remember me, and it made a lot of women who also have beauty marks identify with me," she continued. "They set you apart."

The #MeToo movement had an incredible impact on Hollywood, with stars like Rose McGowan, Terry Crews, and America Ferrera coming out about their experiences of sexual assault and harassment. However, the fashion industry hasn't been spared by predators, and many models have since bravely come forward with their stories. Fortunately, Cindy Crawford told Town & Country in April 2018, "I'm really lucky, because I don't have a #MeToo story." But she still had some unsavory experiences during her time as a model.

"Look, I've done nude photos, lots," she continued. Crawford first posed for Playboy back in 1988 and bared it all several times over the years "The only ones I regretted were the ones that I kind of got talked into," she stated. Crawford didn't go into further detail about the coercion she faced as a young model, but it's clear she's since learned that autonomy is crucial in the industry. Both of her children, Kaia Gerber and Presley Gerber, have followed in her footsteps and become models in their own right. While Crawford is undoubtedly proud of them, she also hopes they don't make the same mistakes she did. "I don't want my children to ever look back and think, 'Gosh, I wish I hadn't done that,'" she remarked. "I want to empower them to just say, 'I'm outta here.'"

Cindy Crawford had already graced the covers of several magazines when she met Richard Gere, fresh off the set of "Miles From Home," in 1988. She was just 21, and the actor was 17 years her senior, but their connection was undeniable. The Hollywood couple became iconic and in December 1991, they decided to elope in Las Vegas. But unfortunately, things ended about as quickly as they began, and Crawford and Gere announced they had separated just three years later, finalizing their divorce in 1995.

On a September 2023 episode of the Apple TV+ series "The Super Models" (via Hola!), the Vogue cover model detailed the demise of her relationship with the "Pretty Woman" star. "You're willing to kind of mold yourself around whoever you are in love with,'" Crawford said of being young and in love. But eventually, she and her husband drifted apart — and nobody was surprised when Crawford partly blamed the age gap between her and Gere. As she explained, "He was older, so I just found myself in a different circle and no longer engaged in some of those same fashion-focused pursuits."

As she got older, the model realized she no longer wanted to be a "follower" in her relationship. "I wanted to lead at times and walk side by side at others," Crawford said. Fortunately, she found love again when she met Rande Gerber, a businessman who was only three years older than her.

Cindy Crawford's relationship with her husband Rande Gerber actually dates back to the early '90s when she was still married to Richard Gere. They first met at her agent's wedding, and after the model's first marriage ended, they started dating. Just a few years later, Crawford and Gerber tied the knot, and it seems like the second time's the charm considering they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in May 2023. But sadly, it hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine for the couple, seeing as Gerber was hit with a lawsuit in April 2009 accusing him of sexual harassment.

The two women suing Gerber were former waitresses at a bar his company owned, and according to court documents, they were "subjected to quid pro quo sexual harassment at the hands of their supervisors ... and a sexually hostile work environment." Gerber was named as one of the assailants, who reportedly attempted to kiss and grope one of the plaintiffs. The women elevated these instances to human resources but were shut down and eventually let go from the company after reporting the harassment.

In response, Gerber's representative said, "These allegations were previously investigated and shown to be baseless. This lawsuit has no merit." The lawsuit doesn't seem to have had any impact on the businessman's relationship with his wife, and Crawford has never spoken publicly of the incident.

"I don't think you are living in reality. Men do not foam at the mouth at 53-year old women," one internet user wrote underneath a stunning bikini pic Cindy Crawford shared on Instagram in August 2019. "Look at me look at me – time to let it go your ship has sailed," another wrote. The model might not be 20 anymore, but she looks as gorgeous as ever. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop trolls from making cruel age-shaming comments about Crawford. But having worked in an industry that's centered around physical beauty, it's something she's been dealing with for a long time.

Crawford has made a stunning transformation over the years, but as she told the BBC in September 2024, 2001 was a scary time as her 35th birthday loomed. "I had been on contract with Revlon for nearly 13 years," Crawford explained. "They were wonderful to me. But models did not last past 35 back then." Of course, this thinking has since shifted as models like Paulina Porizkova, Maye Musk, and Veronica Webb are over 50 but managing to stay relevant.

With her Revlon contract nearing renewal, Crawford was faced with criticism that she was "too old" to continue modeling. "I was like, 'OK, am I going to just ride off into the sunset? Or am I going to bet on myself, and try and do my own thing?'" she recalled. Obviously, Crawford proved them all wrong.

It's been proved time and again: Kids with famous parents often struggle in the spotlight. From Kelly Osbourne's addiction issues to Nicole Richie's run-ins with the law and even the tragic details about Cindy Crawford's son Presley Gerber, it's hard for the children of celebrities to find shelter from the spotlight. Although Kaia, the model's daughter, has seen success both on-screen and on the runway, her brother hasn't had as clear of a trajectory.

In February 2020, Gerber debuted a face tattoo that read "misunderstood," and according to a source who spoke with E! News at the time, his parents weren't too pleased. "Cindy and Rande are definitely concerned about their son," they said, adding that they've been trying to help him get help since a DUI the previous year. "He has just fallen off the beaten path. He has been in treatment before but they are pushing for something more serious," the source said.

While Crawford and her husband haven't said much about their son's struggles publicly, Gerber shed some light on what he'd been dealing with when he spoke with the "Studio 22" podcast in February 2023. "Having struggled with mental health, depression, and some other things that come along with that," he said, "I think that whether I help one person or a hundred people get out of that place that I was in at one point in my life, that's all I need to do."

As polarized and harsh as the internet can be, everyone seems to agree that the death of a loved one deserves heartwarming compassion. In April 2021, Cindy Crawford's grandmother Ramona died and the model shared a touching tribute to her on Instagram. "She made the best grilled cheese sandwiches on her electric skittle and always had our favorite chocolate chip cookies in a Folgers coffee can in the freezer," Crawford remembered. "She was a wonderful daughter, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother."

She also noted that she and Ramona had come up with a cocktail recipe called "the Whisper," which called for vodka and "a 'whisper' of cranberry juice." Crawford signed off her post, alongside a few sweet snaps of her grandmother, with, "Ramona... I am raising a glass to you today on a life well lived." The model's post was swarmed with supportive comments from followers expressing their condolences, including loving comments from Reese Witherspoon and fellow models Naomi Campbell and Christie Brinkley.

Although Oprah Winfrey is a beloved icon for many, there have been times she's rubbed people the wrong way. One instance occurred back when Cindy Crawford first appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" as a 20-year-old, way back in 1986. In the talk show segment, the model sat next to her then-agent, John Casablancas, who discussed how she was discovered by her partner. Oprah abruptly told her to stand up so the audience could see her "unbelievable" body, and the evidently uncomfortable Crawford obliged.

"When you look at it through today's eyes ... that was so not OK," the model recalled while speaking on the Apple TV+ docuseries, "The Super Models," in September 2023. "Really, especially from Oprah." Unfortunately, Crawford's criticism of the media mogul wasn't received well by some internet users. Some insisted that Oprah was "helping" the model's career, while others wondered why "of all people Cindy could accuse of being dressed down by, it's a Black woman [that] she's accusing of making her feel small?"

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).