Kate Capshaw<\/strong>. The fundraiser has since raised more than $2 million since its creation.<\/p>\n\u201cThank you from the bottom of our hearts for showing up for James and his beautiful family,\u201d read an update from the GoFundMe organizer. \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
While some fans have publicly supported the GoFundMe, others have questioned the family\u2019s need as James achieved Hollywood success. (Prior to his death, James revealed he did not receive income from Dawson\u2019s Creek residuals due to a \u201cbad contract.\u201d The actor also sold memorabilia from his career to raise money for families struggling with cancer, including his own.)<\/p>\n
Keep scrolling to see which stars have supported the Van Der Beek family\u2019s GoFundMe:<\/p>\n
Donna Vivino<\/h2>\n
Broadway actress Donna Vivino took to Instagram to defend James Van Der Beek\u2019s widow, Kimberly Van Der Beek, and the family\u2019s GoFundMe.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those attacking James Van Der Beek\u2019s wife for having a [GoFundMe] may I give you some FACTS,\u201d the Wicked alum wrote on February 13. \u201c1. They do not OWN the farm they live on, they were renting 2. He was not living off residuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vivino highlighted James\u2019 previous remarks about his lack of residuals and how he sold memorabilia to raise money for cancer patients. She also noted, \u201ccancer treatment is effin expensive even WITH insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everything is what it looks like online. A little context goes a long way,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n
Braunwyn Windham-Burke<\/h2>\n
Braunwyn Windham-Burke replied to Donna Vivino\u2019s social media post detailing her experience with having to pay for medical treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family is drowning in medical debt because of my dad\u2019s cancer, my parents saved, worked hard and had a great retirement \u2026 all gone,\u201d the Real Housewives of Orange County alum wrote.<\/p>\n
Deborah Cox<\/h2>\n
Grammy-nominated singer Deborah Cox responded \u201cthis industry is shameful\u201d on Donna Vivino\u2019s Instagram post.<\/p>\n
Hassie Harrison<\/h2>\n
Hassie Harrison expressed her sympathies for the Van Der Beek family after social media users questioned the need for a GoFundMe.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeartbreaking that you even needed to make this post. How can people be so rotten,\u201d the Yellowstone actress replied to Donna Vivino.<\/p>\n
Michelle Stafford<\/h2>\n
Michelle Stafford also shared how her family was impacted by medical bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of my father\u2019s treatment before he died. And he had very good insurance I add \u2026 a certain medication that his insurance would not pay for was $3000 a month,\u201d the Young and the Restless actress replied to the post. \u201cPeople who made disparaging comments, just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tanisha Thomas<\/h2>\n
Bad Girls Club alum Tanisha Thomas replied, \u201cSmh such a shame they didn’t take care of him he was such a Gem \ud83d\udc94\ud83d\udc94 They deserve whatever the Lord blesses them with and That he will\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffd.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several celebrities came to the defense of James Van Der Beek\u2019s family after a GoFundMe was created on their behalf following the actor\u2019s death. Van Der Beek died on February 11, 2026, at age 48, after a battle with stage III colorectal cancer. \u201cOur beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2281676,"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":[25173],"tags":[362340,326689,441991,349865,350582,350581],"class_list":["post-2281675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-cancer-treatment","tag-dawsons-creek","tag-donna-vivino","tag-gofundme","tag-james-van-der-beek","tag-van-der-beek"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Celebrities-Defend-James-Van-Der-Beek-Familys-GoFundMe-After-It.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281675","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=2281675"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2281677,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281675\/revisions\/2281677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2281676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2281675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2281675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2281675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}