James Van Der Beek is getting some (financial) help from her friends in the midst of her battle with stage 3 cancer.
Paul Walter Hauser announced their partnership with Cameo on Monday, Jan. 26, with a goal of raising $20,000 by March 1 to help Van Der Beek, 48, pay for his continued treatment after the Dawson’s Creek alum began selling his personal memorabilia to help with costs.
“James Van Der Beek started selling his old stuff from his past acting jobs to pay for his colorectal cancer treatments, and it didn’t sit well with me,” Hauser, 39, wrote via Instagram on Monday “I’m an actor and father of 3, and I want them to one day inherit my jewelry/wardrobe/memorabilia. I wouldn’t want to auction off a Stingray shirt or a Marvel script to make ends meet for treatment.”
The Marvel star asked her followers to “spread the love” by “spreading the word” about her mission, which will include filming custom Cameo videos to provide direct financial aid to Van Der Beek. In addition, Hauser will auction “personal items” of famous friends such as Josh Gad, Jimmy Kimmel, Beck Lynch and “many many more” to continue “our support for a fellow actor, father and husband who has rolled a painful pair of dice these past two years.”
Hauser also preempted anyone who might question his motives by “arming himself” with “facts and receipts at the ready,” writing, “Before the internet trolls wipe their saliva and attack their keyboards to question why I chose to raise money for this, and not something they consider worthy of time/effort/funding, please know that I have made my donation to Relay for Life. proceeds to organizations like Smile Train and Neighborly, and recently helped raise over $100,000 for ServeLA through my appearance on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.”
He concluded his announcement by saying that he has “always liked” Van Der Beek, who “seems like a really good guy. Let’s help him through this difficult time.”
Us Weekly Van Der Beek has been contacted for comment.
Although the two have never worked together on screen, Hauser recalled that he “reprimanded” Van Der Beek during a 2010 celebrity flag football game during a 2022 appearance on Rich Eisen Show. Hauser recalled standing in the audience and yelling, “I want to see some blood out there, son!” over and over to the Varsity Blues actor before getting a response.
“And after the third time I called it, he turned around and said, ‘I’m going to make you proud, Dad.’
Van Der Beek, who shares Olivia, 14, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 11, Emilia, 8, Gwendolyn, 6, and Jeremiah, 3, with his wife. Kimberly – revealed his stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis via Instagram in November 2024.
Later that month, he announced that he was selling limited editions of his famous Varsity Blues t-shirt for families dealing with cancer, noting that “100 percent of my net proceeds will go to families recovering from the financial burden of cancer (including mine).
The following September, the Dawson’s Creek cast reunited for a live reading of the show’s pilot episode to raise money for F Cancer. Van Der Beek, however, was forced to drop out at the last minute due to a stomach virus. Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary What Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Mary-Margaret Humes, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe i Philip busyAll were present at the event, with Lin-Manuel Mirandaa step for Van Der Beek in the lead role of Dawson Leery.
“I can’t believe it I’m not there“Van Der Beek said in a pre-recorded message on stage. I can’t believe I can’t hug my cast mates, my beautiful cast, in person, and I just wanted to stand on stage and thank everyone in this theater for being here tonight, from the cast to the crew to everyone who has given their time and been so generous. And especially every last one of you. You are the best fans in the world. Thank you for come.”
Two months later, Van Der Beek announced a partnership with Propstore to auction off prized pieces of his career memorabilia to help pay for his ongoing treatments. Items sold included the Dawson’s Creek necklace that Dawson gave Joey (Holmes) for prom, Dawson’s pilot episode outfit and other episodes from the beloved 90s series.
“While I feel a little nostalgic about parting with these items, it feels good to be able to offer them through the Propstore auction to share with those who have supported my work over the years,” he told the people at that time.
Van Der Beek ultimately raised $47,000 during the three-day event.