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That explanation has done little to calm anger from viewers who saw Dane and Van Der Beek as obvious inclusions, particularly because both men had recent deaths that were still raw for fans and colleagues. The controversy was sharpened by the fact that the 2026 segment was longer than usual and included major standalone tributes to Robert Redford, Diane Keaton and Rob Reiner, with producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan having previewed an expanded In Memoriam ahead of the ceremony. Viewers on social media questioned how a longer segment could still omit performers whose deaths had dominated entertainment headlines only last month.
Van Der Beek died on 11 February at the age of 48 after a public battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer. He had revealed his diagnosis in November 2024 and became one of the most visible recent celebrities speaking about bowel cancer at a comparatively young age. His death was announced by his family, and in the weeks that followed tributes painted a picture of a performer whose career had stretched far beyond the teen-heart-throb image that made him famous in the late 1990s. Although he remained most closely associated with Dawson’s Creek, Van Der Beek also built a film résumé that included Varsity Blues, Rules of Attraction, Texas Rangers and Formosa Betrayed, making his omission from a film-industry memorial harder for many fans to understand.
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