{"id":465323,"date":"2026-02-13T02:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T02:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/465323\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T02:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T02:06:10","slug":"steven-spielberg-donates-25k-to-james-van-der-beeks-gofundme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/465323\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Spielberg Donates $25K to James Van Der Beek\u2019s GoFundMe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSteven Spielberg<\/a> and his wife, Kate Capshaw, are among those who have donated to James Van Der Beek<\/a>\u2018s GoFundMe page<\/a>\u00a0for the late actor\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Oscar-winning filmmaker donated $25,000 to the account, launched by the Dawson\u2019s Creek star\u2019s close friends for his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, and their six children. The GoFundMe <\/a>is asking for financial aid after medical costs left them \u201cout of funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tVan Der Beek, 48, died\u00a0Wednesday morning\u00a0following a battle with colorectal cancer<\/a>. He initially\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0in November 2024 that he had \u201cbeen privately dealing with this diagnosis\u201d since August 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs of Thursday at 3 p.m. PT, more than $1.8 million had been raised of a goal of $1.5 million. Early on Wednesday, the donation goal was much lower, at $550,000, but as donations kept flooding in, organizers kept increasing it. And less than 24 hours after the GoFundMe<\/a> page was created, it had already surpassed $1 million in donations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Spielberg and Van Der Beek never officially worked together on a film or television project, the actor\u2019s character in Dawson\u2019s Creek<\/a> idolized the director as his filmmaking hero, with Dawson\u2019s bedroom featuring several Spielberg movie posters.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, the Disclosure Day director<\/a> did surprise fans of the drama series at the show\u2019s reunion in New York City last year with a video message. \u201cDawson, you made it. Maybe someday, I will get to have a Dawson\u2019s closet,\u201d Spielberg said.<\/p>\n

\n\tOther Hollywood notables <\/a>who have appeared to donate to Van Der Beek\u2019s GoFundMe include Wicked: For Good director Jon M. Chu, who sent $10,000, and Oscar-winner Zoe Saldana (under her married name, Zoe Salda\u00f1a-Perego), who donated $2,500 monthly.<\/p>\n

\n\tA message listed on the GoFundMe read, \u201cIn the wake of this loss, Kimberly and the children are facing an uncertain future. The costs of James\u2019s medical care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds. They are working hard to stay in their home\u00a0and to ensure the children can continue their education and maintain some stability during this incredibly difficult time. The support of friends, family, and the wider community will make a world of difference as they navigate the road ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYour generosity will help cover essential living expenses, pay bills, and support the children\u2019s education,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cEvery donation, no matter the size, will help Kimberly and her family find hope and security as they rebuild their lives. Thank you for considering a gift to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, are among those who have donated to James Van Der Beek\u2018s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88,2596,39781,16827],"class_list":{"0":"post-465323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-gofundme","10":"tag-james-van-der-beek","11":"tag-steven-spielberg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}