Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 15:04     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Give or don’t….but stop complaining.


+1 let him rest in peace now.


Agreed. He put plenty of goodness into the world, including through his thoughtful instagram videos. If a whole bunch of fans want to give $25 to his family, so what?


And if a whole bunch of people have an opinion on the gofundme, so what?

Unless you believe only those who support the donation request have a right to an opinion.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 15:03     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Give or don’t….but stop complaining.


+1 let him rest in peace now.


Agreed. He put plenty of goodness into the world, including through his thoughtful instagram videos. If a whole bunch of fans want to give $25 to his family, so what?
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:59     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:Give or don’t….but stop complaining.


+1 let him rest in peace now.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:53     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Give or don’t….but stop complaining.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:48     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did the wife really set up the GGM? Could it be a complete scam?


I’ve read on Reddit and elsewhere that the wife initially set it up and it was changed to “set up by friends” shortly afterwards, but no way to verify of course.


I mean, when she married him she had an expectation of how life would unfold and that is now gone.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:40     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s sad that people feel the need to comment continually on the go fund me after his death. If you don’t want to donate you don’t have to. You aren’t going to change anyone’s mind with your constant rants over it either. Get a life!


I see this type of response a lot on social media over this. Its not so much about the van der beeks, its more about a ridiculous donation culture that needs to be called out where people are using gofundme as a way to take financial short cuts, taking advantage of people in the process.

Its just like calling out that the absurdity that tipping culture has become. If we stay silent the problem becomes more widespread.



Get real. If your spouse has to die very young to “cut a financial shortcut” that sounds like a pretty shit deal. You should be so lucky, right? I’d rather have decades to work and save than have one of our lives cut short. You lack perspective on this.


DP, but I have a real world example that highlights how people feel when they are asked to donate and then find out there was never a real financial need.

Someone I know IRL lost her husband unexpectedly in his late 40s/early 50s. A GoFundMe was launched by the woman’s sister to cover funeral expenses, housing costs, and college savings. They quickly pulled in over $250k+. (Well north of that actually.)

And then a few months later everyone found out he was heavily insured and already had tons of money invested, etc. They moved into a nicer home, kids were already in private school, etc. A relative with more intimate knowledge said the money wasn’t needed; just a money grab.

As someone who had no idea, I contributed $500—like most of our friends (some gave more). We worried she would struggle to pay bills. Long story short: she’s financially better off than literally everyone who contributed to the GFM. And that’s not cool.


Oh man I am so sorry about your $500. Whenever you feel bad about donating to their GFM, maybe envision the kids doing Little League without a dad coaching in the stands… think of them sitting alone at school while everyone is making Father’s Day cards… envision them on their wedding day without their father there. Maybe that will help cheer you up?
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:37     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Van Der Beek purchased the $4.7 million Texas ranch one month before his death. The 36-acre ranch features a 5,149‑square‑foot home with five bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with additional cabins and a pool.

Why is anyone giving this family money?


Because people are being swayed by the idea that his widow is now left w/six children and no way to support them.

While I can understand how tough her life may be now, I personally think his widow wants to maintain her style of living.
Hence the expensive home.

However people who are mostly destitute could benefit more from GoFundMe.
Because living in a $4M ranch is a true luxury not many people get to experience in life.


He was a beloved actor on a very popular tv show from many years ago who didn’t get residuals because he got stuck in a bad contract. Many people care about him because of the and are donating to his family in memory of him. You don’t have to donate.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:26     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm so sorry he died but yes, I agree they are in a privileged position, they can sell their substantial property if needed, and the fact that they are taking money from people living paycheck-to-paycheck is beyond horrible. They can ask Spielberg for money through private channels.


Nobody is taking anything. People are voluntarily donating.


People can find it distasteful but donating is voluntary. Clearly there are more destitute people out there if that is someone's metric for donations. Others feel moved by their connection to him personally and want to contribute.

I don't see it as misrepresentation and any major donors are hopefully Hollywood wealthy types.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:23     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Van Der Beek purchased the $4.7 million Texas ranch one month before his death. The 36-acre ranch features a 5,149‑square‑foot home with five bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with additional cabins and a pool.

Why is anyone giving this family money?


Because people are being swayed by the idea that his widow is now left w/six children and no way to support them.

While I can understand how tough her life may be now, I personally think his widow wants to maintain her style of living.
Hence the expensive home.

However people who are mostly destitute could benefit more from GoFundMe.
Because living in a $4M ranch is a true luxury not many people get to experience in life.


She can GET A JOB.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:19     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s sad that people feel the need to comment continually on the go fund me after his death. If you don’t want to donate you don’t have to. You aren’t going to change anyone’s mind with your constant rants over it either. Get a life!


I see this type of response a lot on social media over this. Its not so much about the van der beeks, its more about a ridiculous donation culture that needs to be called out where people are using gofundme as a way to take financial short cuts, taking advantage of people in the process.

Its just like calling out that the absurdity that tipping culture has become. If we stay silent the problem becomes more widespread.



Get real. If your spouse has to die very young to “cut a financial shortcut” that sounds like a pretty shit deal. You should be so lucky, right? I’d rather have decades to work and save than have one of our lives cut short. You lack perspective on this.


DP, but I have a real world example that highlights how people feel when they are asked to donate and then find out there was never a real financial need.

Someone I know IRL lost her husband unexpectedly in his late 40s/early 50s. A GoFundMe was launched by the woman’s sister to cover funeral expenses, housing costs, and college savings. They quickly pulled in over $250k+. (Well north of that actually.)

And then a few months later everyone found out he was heavily insured and already had tons of money invested, etc. They moved into a nicer home, kids were already in private school, etc. A relative with more intimate knowledge said the money wasn’t needed; just a money grab.

As someone who had no idea, I contributed $500—like most of our friends (some gave more). We worried she would struggle to pay bills. Long story short: she’s financially better off than literally everyone who contributed to the GFM. And that’s not cool.


\$250K isn’t retire and live off the interest for life money. It’s like 1 years salary for people. If you can’t afford to donate, then don’t.


You’ve missed the point.

The widow didn’t need any money because her husband was sitting on millions in investments and then was heavily insured on top of it.

^^^
That’s the point: the GFM was an unnecessary money grab for someone who didn’t need a dime…and apparently the Vanderbeek widow doesn’t really need average Joe’s to crowd-fund her family’s lifestyle either.


No, the point is that $500 was a lot to you and you needed it more than the widow. Don’t donate more than you can comfortably afford. A lot of people donated $10 to the Van Der Beeks. That’s like one Starbucks drink.


And the other point is that is it greedy to ask for money through a Go Fund Me if you are better off than most of the people you sent the info to.


I never donate to go fund mes. It’s easy to not worry about this. Just don’t do it. Easy peasy.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 14:17     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:I'm so sorry he died but yes, I agree they are in a privileged position, they can sell their substantial property if needed, and the fact that they are taking money from people living paycheck-to-paycheck is beyond horrible. They can ask Spielberg for money through private channels.


Nobody is taking anything. People are voluntarily donating.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 13:33     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:Van Der Beek purchased the $4.7 million Texas ranch one month before his death. The 36-acre ranch features a 5,149‑square‑foot home with five bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with additional cabins and a pool.

Why is anyone giving this family money?


Because people are being swayed by the idea that his widow is now left w/six children and no way to support them.

While I can understand how tough her life may be now, I personally think his widow wants to maintain her style of living.
Hence the expensive home.

However people who are mostly destitute could benefit more from GoFundMe.
Because living in a $4M ranch is a true luxury not many people get to experience in life.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 13:28     Subject: Re:James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

I recently read that colorectal cancer has surpassed breast ➕ lung cancer as the top cancer killer for people under 50.

This is really sad.
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 13:24     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Van Der Beek purchased the $4.7 million Texas ranch one month before his death. The 36-acre ranch features a 5,149‑square‑foot home with five bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with additional cabins and a pool.

Why is anyone giving this family money?
Anonymous
Post 02/16/2026 11:59     Subject: James Van der beek died! 48 yo :(

Anonymous wrote:It’s unfortunate that all of their bad financial decisions are so public. I guess it’s supposed to be romantic and touching that his final act was to literally buy the farm, but all I see is a property they can’t afford and the burden of trying to sell it when they inevitably have to downsize. Hopefully KVDB invests her GFM windfall wisely.


Well I think they can afford it now. My guess (posted above), is that they still have the property in CA, and use the rental income to cover living expenses. The family probably also received large donations from actor friends outside of the go fund me.