October 3, 2026 at 9:11am EDT

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s July wedding was supposed to be a joyous family celebration for Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, but one painful absence now casts the A-list event in a very different light.

Swifties saw that the supermodel and her husband, along with daughter Kaia Gerber, all attended the lavish Madison Square Garden nuptials on July 3. In hindsight, it now seems notable that Presley was not in attendance, and for good reason, according to Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice Substack.

“Presley absolutely was invited. Cindy desperately wanted all four of them there together,” a source close to the family claimed to Shuter. “But when the wedding came around, everyone understood Presley simply wasn’t in a place where he could handle something that big.”

For Crawford, she had hoped that her 27-year-old son would be able to make the family affair, but the reality of his addiction was too hard to ignore.

“His mom, dad, and sister went without him because, at that moment, Presley just couldn’t go. The people closest to the family knew there was a lot going on,” the insider added.

Still, Crawford reportedly spent the night “worrying about the son who wasn’t beside her.” A People source revealed that Presley’s parents “tried everything possible” to get him back on track, from therapy to rehab; the process took “years.”

“He had a stretch of time in the winter where he was clean, and his family was thrilled,” the insider continued while noting that his addiction had “become especially bad” over the “last year.”

Presley died at a sober living facility on September 20 while in cardiac arrest. Per the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s report obtained by People, his autopsy has been completed, but the cause of death has been deferred due to the ongoing police investigation.

Now, Presley’s absence at Swift and Kelce’s wedding puts things into perspective. He was in a “heartbreaking” place with his addiction, according to Shuter’s source, and the Crawford-Gerber family is now mourning his loss.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.