‘My violin is tiny‘: Celebrity GoFundMe pages divide fans
Source: ABC News
The tide of public opinion can turn so quickly it’s little wonder some celebrities find themselves swimming in the wrong direction.
When friends of James Van Der Beek launched a GoFundMe campaign for the Dawson’s Creek star’s family after his death earlier this month, it initially prompted a huge outpouring of sympathy – and dollars.
People were moved by the story of how Van Der Beek’s costly cancer battle had left his wife and six children facing an uncertain future, with Hollywood heavyweights helping the fundraiser reach $US2 million ($A2.8 million) in about 24 hours.
Then Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane died last week at just 53 from ALS, a form of motor neurone disease, and a GoFundMe page was started to help his partner and two teenage daughters.
“Even as his own health declined, he remained deeply committed to helping others facing the same devastating disease,” states the blurb for the campaign, which has so far raised more than $US422,000 (SA597,000).
“As his illness progressed far more quickly than anyone could have imagined, Eric’s friends have come together to create this GoFundMe to support his girls and their future needs.”
But some commentators and social media users are questioning why fundraising campaigns are necessary for the families of famous people, and suggesting the celebrity donors should spread their cash elsewhere.
“How about donating to a charity instead of helping people that are already wealthy,” wrote one social media user on a GoFundMe post on Instagram about the Dane campaign.
“This tragedy should not be used to ask regular people, who can barely make ends meet, to send money to millionaires. Shameful!” wrote another reply to a post by former Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff.
Hundreds more have vented on a Reddit thread sparked by a comment about “rich celebrities’ families” launching GoFundMe pages to get large donations when “the economy is shit and people are struggling to afford every day essentials”.
“My violin is tiny and my pockets are sewn shut,” wrote one user.
The Dane campaign was briefly put on hold by GoFundMe when questions were raised about its legitimacy. It was later reopened after the website said it had been verified.
Major donors who have helped boost the total include Sam Levinson, creator of the Emmy-winning series Euphoria in which the actor starred. He kicked in $US27,000 ($A38,000).
Director Steven Spielberg and actor Zoe Saldaña are among the Hollywood names who gave generous donations to the Van Der Beek fundraiser; Spielberg and wife Kate Capshaw gave $US25,000 ($35,400) and Saldaña committed $US2500 ($A3540)a month.
There has been much speculation about the estates of both Dane and Van Der Beek. While some media outlets have reported that Dane’s net worth at the time of his death was $US7 million ($A9.9 million), the website Celebrity Net Worth may have adjusted this in recent days.
It now estimates Dane’s net worth to be $US3 million ($A4.24 million), the same as his wife and fellow actor Rebecca Gayheart. The website states that he reportedly earned between $US125,000 and $US250,000 per episode for Grey’s Anatomy, before taxes and agents’ commissions.
Celebrity Net Worth has also recently updated its page for Van Der Beek. It estimates his net worth at the time of his death at $US100,000 ($A141,000).
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Van Der Beek was renting the large ranch outside Austin, Texas, where he spent his final days with his family, and didn’t spend “super conspicuously”.
“Whatever money he made through his decades onscreen … got sucked up by the costly business of battling cancer, especially the alternative therapies Van Der Beek was said to have leaned into,” it reported.
“By the end, he was reduced to auctioning off Dawson’s Creek memorabilia online, like that E.T. toy his character kept in his bedroom (it sold for $6000).”
There have been similar backlashes over celebrity fundraisers in the past, including when entertainer Mandy Moore shared a link to a GoFundMe campaign for her in-laws when they lost their home in the California wildfire.
Actor Alyssa Milano, who was at the centre of controversy two years ago when she set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for her son’s baseball trip, is among those speaking out in defence of the Dane and Van Der Beek GoFundMe pages.
In a Substack article titled “The ‘elite’ myth and GoFundMe outrage”, the star of TV shows including Charmed and Who’s the Boss? said that in the streaming era many actors face erratic employment and unreliable incomes.
“The idea that once you’ve been on a hit show you are permanently insulated from financial vulnerability is just not today’s reality,” Milano stated.
She said “visibility is not wealth”, arguing that the real elite are to be found elsewhere, including among “executives collecting multimillion-dollar bonuses while entire crews struggle to maintain healthcare eligibility”.
“When friends of Eric Dane and James Van Der Beek organised GoFundMe campaigns, what they were doing was not frivolous,” Milano said.
“Their friends were doing something ordinary. They were passing the hat.”
Dane’s former Grey’s Anatomy co-star, Kate Walsh, also said in an Instagram story that “a lot of people … are under the misconception that actors are rich”.
Among those questioning the fairness of celebrity-focused public fundraising campaigns, many “ordinary” Americans have also taken aim at the country’s medical system and how it leaves millions struggling to pay for health insurance and soaring bills for necessary medical treatment.
“What kind of world are we living in where famous people can’t afford to die?” asked one Instagram user.
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