Did James Van Der Beek Really Die Broke?

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/james-van-der-beek-financial-struggles-gofundme-1236510777/

Did James Van Der Beek Really Die Broke?
Hollywood has rallied behind the late 'Dawson’s Creek' star, raising $2.6 million for his widow and six children. But the internet has been less generous, with scores of posters wondering why such a famous actor would need a fundraiser in the first plac

Steven Spielberg wrote a check for $25,000. Zoe Saldaña pledged $2,500 a month. Jon M. Chu gave $10,000, Norman Lear’s widow, Lyn, chipped in $5,000, while a slew of others — TV writer Julie Plec, talk show host Ricki Lake, model Lydia Hearst — signed up for thousands more.

In total, the GoFundMe launched to help James Van Der Beek‘s widow and six children so far has collected more than $2.6 million — tangible, dollar-and-cents proof of how much the Dawson’s Creek star was valued in Hollywood and how genuinely shaken the town was when, on Feb. 11, at just 48, he lost his three-year battle with colorectal cancer.

But, of course, no good deed goes unscrutinized, and those donations have been raising some prickly questions, especially online, where not everyone has been feeling so generous about Van Der Beek’s GoFundMe campaign. Scores of posters have been wondering out loud why the family of such a famous actor — the star not only of a seminal millennial teen drama that ran on The WB for six seasons but of a string of later TV projects and films— would require an online fund-raiser.

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Maybe. But Van Der Beek, for all his widespread name recognition, was not a super-high-net-worth celebrity — or at least he didn’t spend super conspicuously. ...... Until shortly before his death, he was renting the 36-acre ranch outside Austin, where he moved in 2020 and where he spent his final days among his family and friends, along with a small menagerie of horses, dogs and chickens. Whatever money he made through his decades onscreen — and from what can be pieced together from interviews and industry realities, it probably wasn’t a huge amount — got sucked up by the costly business of battling cancer,

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“There was no residual money,” Van Der Beek bluntly told an interviewer in 2014. “I was 20. It was a bad contract.”
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But raising six kids, even in Austin, is expensive, and the rent on that 36-acre ranch — which before Van Der Beek’s arrival was sometimes leased out as a wedding venue — wasn’t cheap either (comparable properties in the area can go from $10,000 to $30,000 a month). Reports that Van Der Beek had purchased the place just before his death for $4.8 million turned out to be only half true. Reps for the actor told People that “James secured [a] down payment for the Texas ranch for the family with the help of friends through a trust so they could shift from rent to mortgage.”

[Deuxcents]

1. I read an article that said his medical bills were astronomical..I can only imagine.

[Disaffected]

2. That could explain it alright.

[hlthe2b]

3. Over a million $$$. My own father died in 1987 and had bills that expensive...Yes. Even then.

He had spent 3 months in ICU and coded 3x before he expired, despite having had "successful surgery". I had worked at this hospital ER in the past during training and my sister was currently employed as a nurse there, so I was able to deal with it and work through most of the insurance and get it paid with them decreasing the expenses dramatically. Most "laypeople" (even if they did not have a medical "in" with the facility would have a very hard time sans attorney or other similar person with expertise cannot accomplish this).

So, yeah. They have probably burned through their finances with more due for hospital bills.

[Iggo]

13. I had one heart attack.

Two cath procedures (not counting the two sheath removals because they had to go back in after the first removal…that hurts…a lot…do NOT recommend…lol.) Had some internal bleeding stuff going on and they couldn’t get my blood count up for a week and I had problems getting in and out of bed from the pain of the two sheath removals. But that’s not what I was getting at…

My point: One heart attack plus 8 days in the hospital, half of that in the ICU, was $349,000 before insurance. (Thank GAWD I have insurance!)

I don’t know anything about the cost of years worth of cancer treatments. But i bet it’s a lot more than that.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. I think the wrong question is being asked.

The real question is: Why does ANYONE have to ask/beg for money or go broke or decide which utility (if any) stays on and/or rent gets paid in order to pay for medical bills and/or stay healthy!?

[niyad]

9. EXACTLY!!!

[leftstreet]

10. +1

[Cha]

5. Well, Thank You, Hollywood! And,

I don't think it's internet trolls' business.

[dsc]

7. I didn't realize his Dawson's Creek contract was so bad

but it is a testament to just how expensive health care is in our country. My own insurance has gotten worse as my health care has become more expensive over time. My prescriptions have increased tremendously despite my not being on any block buster drugs. My insurance copays have gotten high enough that I use GoodRx for two of mine. One had gone from $15 for a three month supply to $65.

[Jacson6]

8. It doesn't matter. No one is putting a gun to the head of any donors. n/t

[Blue Full Moon]

11. Poor rich person. Down to just a few million.

His wife is a wellness influencer and anti vaxxer.
All the things that MAGA say and do to other people should apply here.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

12. Oh..didnt know she was anti vax

[Blue Full Moon]

14. I would guess the miracle cure all ivermectin was used.

[Sympthsical]

15. Man, that PR machine is working hard to paper over the audacity

It's not that people do not believe medical care is expensive. Especially during catastrophic illness.

It's that the public is being emotionally manipulated - in this economy - to keep this family in the celebrity lifestyle to which they are accustomed.

Regular Americans would understand that money has tightened, and maybe the 40 acre ranch isn't a good idea! But no. Their play on sympathy is actually, "You don't want his family to live like you peasants, do you? Maybe they'd have to settle for a four bedroom house in suburbia somewhere. You might as well be consigning them to the gutter!"

It's completely hilarious. And the fact his wife posted it before his body was even cold is crazy. Which is actually completely on brand for her "wellness" grifting self.

Sympathy is being manipulated hard, and now Hollywood is shocked - shocked! - that a large portion of the public has noticed and is resenting it.

For just $2,500 a month, you too can feed a completely not starving quiver child on a palatial ranch in Texas. Sally Struthers, call your office.

[Iggo]

16. Lol...the smart move would be to take that money and go live like peasants.

[Sympthsical]

20. Given her grifting track record

I don't think downsizing will be found anywhere in this woman's vocabulary.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

18. Eric Dane, star of ER, gofundme has been setup

[Sympthsical]

19. Not nearly as successful so far

I'm guessing the Singing "Imagine" During Covid equivalent of celebrity postmortem moneygrubbing that Kimberly Van Der Beek managed has dampened enthusiasm for the public when it comes to making millionaires more comfortable out of the goodness of their hearts.

When you think of all the families in America dealing with illness whose lives could be changed with just a fraction of the amount these celebrities are shit-grubbing for, it's enraging.

What a stupid culture this is.

[JI7]

21. He was married to Rebecca Gayheart

I would think between them they would have decent amount of money .

[wishstar]

17. Reportedly he owed IRS almost $95,000 for 2017, $174,000 for 2019

which he paid back in 2022 so apparently he had what most of us would consider decent income those years at least. Of course not in the multi- millionaire category of the A-Listers.


Assuming he paid SS payroll taxes for at least a few years, Social Security for the children will provide several thousand per month to the family up to at least when youngest turns 18.