{"id":2280737,"date":"2026-02-13T17:09:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T17:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2280737"},"modified":"2026-02-13T17:09:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T17:09:25","slug":"james-van-der-beeks-pals-share-update-on-familys-deep-grief-after-his-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/james-van-der-beeks-pals-share-update-on-familys-deep-grief-after-his-death\/","title":{"rendered":"James Van Der Beek&#8217;s pals share update on family&#8217;s &#8216;deep grief&#8217; after his death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Friends of the late James Van Der Beek shared an update on his grieving family after <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-for-james-van-der-beeks-family\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a GoFundMe<\/a> raised more than $2 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you from the bottom of our hearts for showing up for James and his beautiful family,\u201d friends of the Van Der Beeks wrote in a statement posted to the fundraiser page Thursday night.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour kindness has meant more than we can put into words. In the middle of deep grief, your support has been a light. It reminds us that love is real, that community is strong, and that James\u2019s spirit continues to bring people together.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>James Van Der Beek\u2019s friends gave fans an update on how the family has been doing since the actor\u2019s death.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d alum died on Wednesday. <span class=\"credit\">vanderjames\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The family\u2019s loved ones explained that his widow, Kimberly, and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/parents\/meet-james-van-der-beeks-6-kids-with-wife-kimberly\/\">their six kids <\/a>are \u201ctaking time to mourn\u201d with each other. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe kindly ask members of the media and the public to give them space and privacy as they walk through this painful season,\u201d they wrote. \u201cYour respect and understanding will give them the room they need to heal.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The friends asked that fans keep Kimberly and all of James\u2019 loved ones in their thoughts and prayers. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you for honoring his life with compassion, generosity, and love,\u201d the statement concluded. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cIn the middle of deep grief, your support has been a light,\u201d the family\u2019s friends wrote in a statement shared to the GoFundMe page Thursday.  <span class=\"credit\">James Van Der Beek\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>James\u2019 friends asked for privacy so the family could mourn together.  <span class=\"credit\">vanderjames\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The GoFundMe page was created Wednesday, with an initial goal of $500,000. By Friday, the fundraiser had surpassed $2 million in donations.<\/p>\n<p>Organizers said the funds would go toward the family\u2019s \u201cessential living expenses\u201d as well as their bills and children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/02\/12\/celebrity-news\/all-the-celebs-who-donated-to-james-van-der-beeks-familys-gofundme\/\">Several celebrities contributed<\/a>, including Zoe Salda\u00f1a, who set up a recurring donation of $2,500 a month, as well as Derek Hough, Ricki Lake, Lydia Hearst and Kaley Cuoco.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>James and his wife, Kimberly, shared six children.  <span class=\"credit\">vanderjames\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A GoFundMe for his widow and their kids has already raised more than $2 million.  <span class=\"credit\">vanderkimberly\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Steven Spielberg, who was the idol of James\u2019 character Dawson Leary in \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek,<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/02\/12\/celebrity-news\/steven-spielberg-dawson-leerys-idol-donates-25k-to-james-van-der-beeks-family-after-actors-death\/\">\u201d donated $25,000. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The \u201cVarsity Blues\u201d star died Wednesday after<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/02\/12\/celebrity-news\/inside-james-van-der-beeks-final-days-before-cancer-death\/\"> battling colorectal cancer<\/a>. He was 48. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe met his final days with courage, faith, and grace,\u201d Kimberly <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DUoR_x4EkTm\/\">wrote in a statement.<\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Several celebrities have donated to the cause.  <span class=\"credit\">James Van Der Beek\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>James battled colorectal cancer before passing away.  <span class=\"credit\">vanderjames\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>James announced his cancer diagnosis in November 2024 \u2014 nearly a year after doctors told him about the illness. <\/p>\n<p>To help pay for his cancer treatment,<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2025\/11\/12\/entertainment\/james-van-der-beek-auctions-off-dawsons-creek-memorabilia-to-fund-cancer-treatments\/\"> James auctioned off <\/a>memorabilia from \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d and \u201cVarsity Blues\u201d last November. <\/p>\n<p>The late TV star struggled financially in his final months due to medical bills and being unable to work amid his cancer battle. He also <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/02\/12\/celebrity-news\/why-james-van-der-beek-didnt-see-much-in-dawsons-creek-residuals\/\">received \u201cvery little in residuals\u201d<\/a> from the CW drama, which aired from 1998 to 2003.<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/02\/12\/celebrity-news\/james-van-der-beeks-familys-gofundme-reaches-1-million-after-his-death\/#\"\/><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source pagesix.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Friends of the late James Van Der Beek shared an update on his grieving family after a GoFundMe raised more than $2 million. \u201cThank you from the bottom of our hearts for showing up for James and his beautiful family,\u201d friends of the Van Der Beeks wrote in a statement posted to the fundraiser page [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2280738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[23383,22062,70626,24003,315673,349865,350582,21913],"class_list":["post-2280737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-cancer","tag-celebrity-deaths","tag-celebrity-families","tag-celebrity-news","tag-fundraising","tag-gofundme","tag-james-van-der-beek","tag-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/James-Van-Der-Beeks-pals-share-update-on-familys-deep.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2280737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2280739,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280737\/revisions\/2280739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2280738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2280737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2280737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2280737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}