When Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek died of colorectal cancer at 48 earlier this month, it raised an immediate and sustained outpouring of grief, emotion and support.
But also raised were more than a few eyebrows. Specifically around a GoFundMe campaign for Van Der Beek’s family, which quickly reached $2.7 million US and counting. It was meant to help his wife and six children “cover essential living expenses, pay bills, and support the children’s education” as well as maintain their standard of living and ostensibly keep from losing their home.
The reaction, from both the media and fans, was swift.
“I’ve seen a lot of people talking about, like, ‘Why? What is the purpose? Like, did you guys not have any money saved up?'” said culture critic Pablo The Don. “‘I’ve known who you are for years via TV and movies; where is this sudden need for money coming from?'”
But Van Der Beek, who died on Feb. 11, is not alone. In what feels to some like a sea change in acceptable behaviour, celebrities and those close to them have been asking everyday fans to contribute to grassroots fundraising efforts — specifically to go toward their own families or friends instead of to larger causes.
James Van Der Beek, most famous for his starring role in teen drama Dawson’s Creek, has died at age 48, his family confirmed. Van Der Beek was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer in November 2024.
When that ask comes from public figures or those around them, it can inspire criticism, Pablo said. That’s especially true when a campaign’s beneficiary is assumed to have far more resources and a stronger safety net than those from whom they’re asking for help.
Most recently, there was Grey’s Anatomy actor Eric Dane. Roughly 10 months after revealing an ALS diagnosis, Dane died Feb. 19. GoFundMe took down, then recently verified and reinstated a page made “to support his girls and their future needs.” It has since raised over $400,000 US.
Multiple GiveSendGo campaigns set up to aid Erika Kirk — widow of assassinated right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk — collectively raised millions, though for most it is unclear who started them. And last year, actress Mandy Moore defended her choice to ask fans for donations to support her brother-in-law and his wife, after they lost their home in the L.A. wildfires.
“We just lost most of our life in a fire, too,” Moore wrote in a since-removed Instagram comment, replying to outraged commentators.
“Kindly F OFF. No one is forcing you to do anything.”
Crowdfunding controversy
In the past few years, everyone from Alyssa Milano, to Brittany Mahomes (wife of NFL player Patrick Mahomes), Megan Fox and Kylie Jenner have found themselves in outrage cycles for asking fans to contribute to fundraisers for their friends and families. And the backlash hasn’t only come from the public.
“It’s my favourite thing when wealthy celebrities start a GoFundMe,” British actor Jameela Jamil said on a recent podcast episode. “It’s like, you could just pay that bill with no harm to yourself whatsoever. It’s a drop in your ocean.”
Actor Mickey Rourke denied any involvement with an online fundraiser recently set up in his name, meant to help him avoid eviction. Saying the drive was launched without his knowledge, he claimed he would “rather stick a gun up [his] ass and pull the trigger” than ask for donations from fans.
That attitude drives much of the negative reaction to these campaigns, said Jeremy Snyder, a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University.
“In the past there was a bit more stigma about it, or ‘Why are you asking for money? Why are you putting yourself out there in that sort of way?'” said Snyder, who researches the ethics of medical crowdfunding.
But he said as those practices become normalized online, “it becomes a little easier for celebrities or very high-profile people to put themselves out there.”
And while that shift has caused crowdfunding to become a prevailing strategy for desperate, everyday people, Snyder says its spread to public figures highlights something more insidious.
While the vast majority of crowdfunding campaigns receive “very, very little money” and even less attention, good-looking, well-known celebrities are “way, way, way ahead of anybody else in this field,” he said.
“It’s just automatic that you’re going to get a lot more attention for your campaign, and that attention makes it much more likely you’re going to raise a lot of money.”
That turns crowdfunding into a kind of replacement system for insurance, though only available to the famous. That kind of inequality can inspire a feeling of injustice.
Two Canadian universities are changing the way medicine is taught to address systemic health inequalities and a major doctor shortage. The goal is to train doctors to be aware of a patient’s culture, diet, and community as crucial factors in health outcomes.
“It’s not a level playing field, right?” Snyder said. “If you’re somebody else who’s had cancer, who’s run through all of your money, you just do not have — as a regular person — the same likelihood of getting your campaign supercharged in this kind of way.”
There are other factors to consider, as well. For one, Snyder says, the fact that celebrity is used for personal, rather than public, aid feels like a missed opportunity. They could instead be using the attention they receive to highlight widespread systemic issues.
Assumptions can be misguided
That’s even more true when it comes to medical fundraisers, he said. That medical bills can bankrupt even famous actors “does show that there is this underlying rot in the system, especially in the U.S.,” Snyder said.
But at the same time, Snyder says, there is reason for compassion. Publicly acknowledging you need help takes courage, he said, especially for well-known figures. As was the case for Van Der Beek, a celebrity GoFundMe will inspire relentless scrutiny into their personal finances, as people try to determine whether they “really” deserve help.
And as Alyssa Milano wrote in a recent post, the assumption that actors are always the rich elite is often misguided.
“Most actors are not heirs to vast fortunes,” she wrote on her Substack, arguing against the widespread criticism of actors and their families organizing GoFundMe campaigns.
“The true elite are not actors negotiating residual transparency.… They are billionaires whose wealth compounds regardless of economic downturns, and whose influence shapes the very narratives that divide working people from one another.”
At the same time, Snyder said, for bereaved loved ones, their main priority is rarely to fix a widespread social ill, instead it’s to focus on surviving and grieving. That’s something Pablo says should be taken into consideration.
“Your right to criticize or align with the starting of GoFundMe is completely yours, but just remember that the people that they left behind see it, they see those things,” they said.
“They see what you’re saying about their family members. And maybe in that way, consider how you would feel if you jumped online one day and saw people saying all kinds of things about someone who just passed away in your life.”
