Events also include CardioSoc Colour Run, the Belfast Photo Festival, a Gospel Hall Outreach, and the Belfast 24 Hour Run.

A number of events have been confirmed for public parks across Belfast in 2026.

At a Belfast City Council committee meeting in City Hall this week, six events were confirmed for Ormeau Park, Botanic Gardens, Victoria Park, Waterworks Park and Dixon Playing Fields.

Elected members at the February meeting of the council’s People and Communities Committee approved events requests by the CardioSoc Colour Run, the Belfast Photo Festival, the Belfast Marathon, the Belfast Barrio Fiesta, Bloomfield Gospel Hall Gospel Outreach, and the Belfast 24 Hour Run.

READ MORE: Local opposition grows against Botanic GAA pitch plan that will uproot community gardens

READ MORE: £22million announced for controversial North Belfast community hub

Queens University Belfast’s Cardiology Society will host a charity colour run event at Ormeau Park on Sunday March 28, at a cost of £5 for Adults, £3 for Children and £15 for groups of four. The council report on events states: “The paint that is used is washable and will not damage any areas of the park. They have requested permission to collect money on site to raise funds for Heart Failure Warriors NI and Braveheart NI with a shared 50 percent of all money raised being donated to them.”

The Belfast Photo Festival will run throughout the month of June in a host of venues, including Botanic Gardens. Launched in 2011, this now annual photographic event has been described by Capture Magazine as one of the “best photography festivals in the world.” It attracts upwards of 100 thousand visitors a year, celebrating some of the finest national and international contemporary photography across 30 museums, galleries and public spaces.

The 44th full Belfast Marathon will take place on May 4 incorporating a 26.2 mile course that will cover all areas of the city. The route for this year’s full marathon will take participants through the Waterworks and will once again have the finish line at Ormeau Park. In previous years the event has included an entertainment zone in Ormeau Park with food trucks, allowing participants and spectators to partake in the celebration with friends and family.

The Half Marathon will take place on September 20. The event organisers have requested permission for the race to begin in Ormeau Park with the route taking the race through Victoria park and finishing again in Ormeau.

The Barrio Fiesta event at Botanic Gardens was created to celebrate Filipino culture, and to boost the morale of Filipinos living away from home. The event this year will be held on June 27.

It will celebrate Filipino culture through music, food and dance, and will provide workshops and classes. There will be live music and traditional Filipino performers attending from all over N. Ireland. It will showcase 35 vendors.

The council report states: “This is the first time this organiser has applied to the council to deliver an event at a Belfast Park location. However, the organisation has run this event for a number of years and has experienced growth year on year. Last year’s event attracted 2,500 attendees and the group anticipates 3,000 attendees in 2026.”

Bloomfield Gospel Hall Gospel Outreach at Dixon Playing fields will include Sunday Evening Services from Sunday May 17 to Sunday September 27, Gospel Outreach Saturday from April 18 to Saturday May 18, and Summer Bible Time from Monday August 10 to Friday August 14.

The Belfast 24 Hour Run at Victoria Park will happen from Saturday July 25 to Sunday July 26. The race is in its 15th year, having moved to Victoria Park in 2017. It is estimated that around 200 to 500 runners will take part. The event will include a 24 hour 100 mile race, a team event and a 50k race all inside the 24 hour time period.

The council report states: “This event takes place throughout the night. In previous years there have been a number of reports of noise disturbances so Council officers will work closely with the event organiser again this year to ensure these disturbances are mitigated.”

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MILAN (AP) — Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland looks like a breakout star of the Milan Cortina Olympics after winning his third gold medal. Jordan Stolz has one gold and is targeting three more. And Chloe Kim and a bunch of NHL stars are just getting started.

Von Allmen won the super-G in Bormio on Wednesday to become the third man with three victories in Alpine skiing at one Winter Games. It hadn’t been done since 1968.

That’s not a priority for von Allmen, though. He said he’s just staying in the moment. As for history, “maybe in a few years it will be important for me,” he added.

Von Allmen won the downhill on Saturday and paired with Tanguy Nef to win the team combined Monday.

Skating and waiting for Stolz

Jordan Stolz won the first of what could be four gold medals at these Winter Olympics in men’s 1,000-meter speedskating.

The 21-year-old from Wisconsin set an Olympic record with his time but had to wait longer than usual for his victory to be confirmed because another skater was given a do-over after being bumped during his race.

When Joep Wennermars of the Netherlands failed to beat Stolz, it was time for the American to take a delayed victory lap.

Later Wednesday, there could be American gold in skating of a very different sort as Madison Chock and Evan Bates compete in ice dance.

NHL stars back on Olympic ice

The puck dropped on men’s hockey on Wednesday, marking the return of NHL players to the Games for the first time since 2014.

It started with the Juraj Slafkovsky show, part two.

The Slovakian forward who lit up the 2022 Olympics as a 17-year-old tournament MVP returned as an NHL star with the Montreal Canadiens and picked up where he left off.

Slafkovsky finished with two goals, including the tournament opener, and one assist as Slovakia upset 2022 gold medalist Finland 4-1 in the first game of the preliminary round. Sweden plays Italy later Wednesday.

The NHL opted not to participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics of 2018, and pandemic-related scheduling issues prompted the league to skip the Beijing Games in 2022.

Kim off to a flying start

The halfpipe three-peat attempt began promisingly for Chloe Kim on Wednesday as she finished first in qualifying while wearing a shoulder brace.

After a shoulder injury disrupted her buildup to the Games, Kim credited her muscle memory and a “very well-behaved” shoulder for getting her through to the 12-athlete final on Thursday.

Elsewhere in the mountains, Elizabeth Lemley and Jaelin Kauf won gold and silver for the United States in women’s freestyle moguls skiing. Host nation Italy picked up its third gold when Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer were the surprise winners in a new event, women’s doubles luge.

Jens Luraas Oftebro of Norway overtook rivals and plowed through deep, slushy snow for gold in the Nordic combined normal hill event. And in the women’s 15-kilometer individual biathlon, Julia Simon became the first Frenchwoman to win gold and teammate Lou Jeanmonnot took silver.

Team Canada ‘heartbroken’ after shooting

The Canadian team at the Winter Olympics issued a statement saying it is “heartbroken” after waking to the news of a deadly school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

“Our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones, those who are injured, and the entire Tumbler Ridge community,” the statement said.

A standoff between Ukrainian athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych and the International Olympic Committee rumbled on as he again trained in a helmet decorated with portraits of Ukrainians killed in Russian attacks, many of them athletes. The IOC says it won’t allow the helmet in competition.

___

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Adam Mosseri, the head of Meta‘s Instagram, testified Wednesday during a landmark social media trial in Los Angeles that he disagrees with the idea that people can be clinically addicted to social media platforms.

The question of addiction is a key pillar of the case, where plaintiffs seek to hold social media companies responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Meta Platforms and Google‘s YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled.

At the core of the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old identified only by the initials “KGM,” whose lawsuit could determine how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies would play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials — essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury.

Mosseri said it’s important to differentiate between clinical addiction and what he called problematic use. The plaintiff’s lawyer, however, presented quotes directly from Mosseri in a podcast interview a few years ago where he said the opposite, but he clarified that he was probably using the term “too casually,” as people tend to do.

Mosseri said he was not claiming to be a medical expert when questioned about his qualifications to comment on the legitimacy of social media addiction, but said someone “very close” to him has experienced serious clinical addiction, which is why he said he was “being careful with my words.”

He said he and his colleagues use the term “problematic use” to refer to “someone spending more time on Instagram than they feel good about, and that definitely happens.”

It’s “not good for the company, over the long run, to make decisions that profit for us but are poor for people’s wellbeing,” Mosseri said.

Mosseri and the plaintiff’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, engaged in a lengthy back-and-forth about cosmetic filters on Instagram that changed people’s appearance in a way that seemed to promote plastic surgery.

“We are trying to be as safe as possible but also censor as little as possible,” Mosseri said.

In the courtroom, bereaved parents of children who have had social media struggles seemed visibly upset during a discussion around body dysmorphia and cosmetic filters. Meta shut down all third-party augmented reality filters in January 2025. The judge made an announcement to members of the public on Wednesday after the displays of emotion, reminding them not to make any indication of agreement or disagreement with testimony, saying that it would be “improper to indicate some position.”

In recent years, Instagram has added a slew of features and tools it says have made the platform safer for young people. But this does not always work. A report last year, for instance, found that teen accounts researchers created were recommended age-inappropriate sexual content, including “graphic sexual descriptions, the use of cartoons to describe demeaning sexual acts, and brief displays of nudity.”

In addition, Instagram also recommended a “range of self-harm, self-injury, and body image content” on teen accounts that the report says “would be reasonably likely to result in adverse impacts for young people, including teenagers experiencing poor mental health, or self-harm and suicidal ideation and behaviors.” Meta called the report “misleading, dangerously speculative” and said it misrepresents its efforts on teen safety.

Meta is also facing a separate trial in New Mexico that began this week.

Billionaire Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has sparked controversy after saying that Britain is being “colonised by immigrants”.

The businessman, who has been living in tax-free Monaco since 2020, is founder and chair of one of the world’s largest chemical companies, Ineos, which was granted £120m in UK state aid to protect jobs last year.

Mr Ratcliffe said that immigration is “costing too much money” due to the number of people “on benefits” in an interview with Sky News on Wednesday.

“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,” he said. “I mean, the UK is being colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants.”

He then went on to share dubious information on population statistics in the UK.

“I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it’s 70 million,” he said. “That’s 12 million people.”

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The Office for National Statistics estimates that the population of the UK was in fact 67 million in 2020 and was last close to 58 million over a quarter of a century ago in 2000.

Muslim Manchester United Supporters group said it was “deeply concerned” by the comments, adding that “such rhetoric has real world consequences”.

He said that addressing the “major issues of immigration” and people choosing benefits over work would require “unpopular” actions and “courage”, despite Ineos employing more than 26,000 people across 194 sites in 29 countries across the world.

Mr Ratcliffe was one of the most vocal proponents of Brexit before moving to Monaco in its aftermath.

As Prime Minister Keir Starmer resisted calls to quit amid the fallout from the latest release of the Epstein files citing the “fighting against Reform UK, Mr Ratcliffe said Sir Keir was “too nice”.

“I don’t know whether it’s just the apparatus that hasn’t allowed Keir to do it or, or he’s maybe too nice – I mean, Keir is a nice man,” he said. “I like him, but it’s a tough job and I think you have to do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track, because at the moment I don’t think the economy is in a good state.”

Describing Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as an “intelligent man” with “good intentions”, he acknowledged that similar thoughts had been expressed about Sir Keir as he entered government.

open image in gallery

“I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out,” he concluded.

He compared his experience of managing Manchester United to turning the country around, explaining he had also been “unpopular” at the start of his tenure.

Sir Jim acquired a minority stake in Manchester United in late 2023, with his Ineos group subsequently assuming control of the club’s football operations.

His tenure has already seen a number of contentious changes, particularly concerning ticket pricing and availability, which have drawn significant ire from United fans.

NATO has started a mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic following Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland.

The mission, called Arctic Sentry, will coordinate the increasing military presence of NATO allies in the Arctic, the alliance’s military headquarters said in a statement.

This includes exercises such as Denmark’s Arctic Endurance exercise in its semi-autonomous territory Greenland.

It comes after Mr Trump repeatedly highlighted his ambition to own Greenland, saying it was necessary for US national security.

Denmark and other European NATO members pushed back, after which the US president said he couldn’t rule out military action and later threatened some European nations – including the UK – with new tariffs if he was blocked from purchasing Greenland.

In late January, Mr Trump and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte agreed during talks in Davos that the alliance would play a greater role in protecting the Arctic, and to further discussions about Greenland.

Read more: Why Trump has insisted the US ‘needs’ Greenland

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Mission Arctic Sentry “underscores the alliance’s commitment to safeguard its members and maintain stability in one of the world’s most strategically significant and environmentally challenging areas,” US Air Force General Alexus G. Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, said.

“It will leverage NATO’s strength to protect our territory and ensure the Arctic and High North remain secure.”

British forces will play a vital part in the mission, Defence Minister John Healey said.

He said that the number of British troops sent to Norway will double over three years, from 1,000 to 2,000 personnel, to strengthen Arctic and High North security against rising Russian threats.

Arctic Sentry will also include other NATO activities, which will be added to the mission once broader security needs are assessed and as the national military exercises end.

France and Germany have said they will take part, but have not confirmed how many of their troops will be involved.

Read more from Sky News:
The reality behind Trump’s Greenland ‘deal’
This crisis is far from over for NATO

The British government said the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) security alliance plans major military activity in the High North, with hundreds of troops due to be deployed across Iceland, the Danish Straits and Norway in an exercise set to take place in September.

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are also part of the JEF.

Some parts of the UK are set to be fairly dry and sunny on Saturday (February 14)

Although it will get off to a ‘cold and frosty’ start, Valentines Day is expected to be the sunniest day of the year for most of the UK, according to the latest Met Office forecasts.

It comes as the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a yellow cold-health alert affecting parts of England from 6am on Friday (February 13), all the way through the weekend until 8am on Monday (February 16).

Areas affected by the UKHSA warning are north west England including Greater Manchester, East Midlands, West Midlands, north east England, and Yorkshire and Humber.

And on top of that, several snow and ice warnings have been issued affecting parts of the UK over the next few days. Greater Manchester is set to be affected by a yellow snow and ice warning from 7pm on Thursday (February 12) until 12pm on Friday (February 13).

The Met Office warns: “Outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow likely to lead to icy surfaces and some travel disruption.” And further information reads: “Outbreaks of rain will fall as snow over higher hills initially, before the snow starts to fall to lower levels through Thursday evening.

“Any settling snow will mainly be confined to high ground, above 200 metres 2 to 5 cm is possible, and above 300 metres, a few locations may see as much as 10 cm. The rain and snow is expected to clear south during the early hours of Friday with temperatures expected to fall quickly as skies clear, leading to ice on untreated surfaces.”

And now, the Met Office has issued its verdict on the conditions on Valentines Day (Saturday, February 14).

In the ten-day trends video shared on YouTube, Met Office Meteorologist Alex Burkill said that Valentines Day is expected to be the sunniest day of the year for many UK areas.

Alex said: “So yes, cold and frosty for many of us first thing on Saturday morning, but then actually it’s looking largely dry, largely bright, lots of sunshine.

“You can see most places are going to have their sunniest day of the year so far. Lots of blue sky on offer. Quite a change to what we’ve had recently. And so I do hope you’re able to make the most of this come Valentine’s Day, but it’s not set to last.”

Alex explained that a weather front coming in from the west will bring ‘cloudier and wetter weather’ to the UK by Saturday evening after a fairly dry day.

He continued: “So turning cloudier and wetter from the west as we go through Saturday night and into Sunday. And as this system is then hitting against that cold air that we have across us. So we are likely to see some fairly significant snow.

“And even where we don’t see the snow, there will be some heavy rain in places, 30, 40 millimeters in some parts, particularly towards the southwest. That could cause some problems. The ground is very saturated. So, even a relatively modest amount of rain could cause some further issues.”

The ex-girlfriend of Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid has said his actions are “hard to forgive” after he admitted to cheating on her in a live television interview after winning a bronze medal.

Laegreid finished in third place in the biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, and then broke down in tears at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday, telling Norwegian state broadcaster NRK how he lost the “love of my life” due to his cheating after meeting her six months ago.

“Three months ago, I made my biggest mistake and cheated on her. I told her about it a week ago. It’s ‌been the worst week of my life,” the 28-year-old medallist said, adding how he wishes to share his sporting triumph with her.

Now his ex-girlfriend, who wants to remain anonymous, told Norwegian outlet VG that she “did not choose to be put in this position, and it hurts to have to be in it”.

She added that Laegreid’s infidelity was “hard to forgive, even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world”.

The woman said she had been in contact with Laegreid and that he knew her stance on this.

After his tearful confession on live television, Laegreid said that he might not have been in the right state of mind to give the interview after the race, which came in the wake of the death of his teammate, Sivert ‍Guttorm Bakken, in December last year.

“Maybe it was really selfish of me to give that interview,” he said a few hours later.

Read more from Sky News:
Lindsey Vonn reveals extent of injuries
Winter Olympics hit by penis enhancement controversy

On Wednesday, the Norwegian biathlete apologised to his ex-girlfriend and to his countryman Johan-Olav Botn, who took the gold in the men’s Olympic 20km individual biathlon race but whose achievement was overshadowed by Laegreid’s cheating confession.

“I deeply regret bringing up this personal story on what was a festive day for Norwegian biathlon,” Laegreid told NRK.

“I am not quite myself these days, and I am not thinking clearly. My apologies go to Johan-Olav, who deserved all the attention after winning gold.

“My apologies also go to my ex-girlfriend, who involuntarily ended up in the media spotlight. I hope she is doing well. I can’t change this, but I will now put this behind me and focus on the Olympics.”

All the power he held in his hands at the beginning of 2026 is now starting to go to Joe Tate’s (Ned Porteous) head in Emmerdale.

In January, Joe spotted Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) trying to cover up John Sugden’s (Oliver Farnworth) murder.

He recorded this moment on his phone, and then used it to blackmail her and Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley). Joe told the siblings that if they didn’t give him the Sugden farmland, he’d tell the police about how John really died.

Around the same time as this, Joe managed to find ID cards in Celia Daniels’ (Jaye Griffiths) farmhouse that proved she had been hiring illegal immigrants. Determined to help Kim Tate (Claire King) succeed in her plan to buy the land that surrounds Home Farm, Joe realised he had another opportunity on his hands.

He got Robert to plant the ID cards in Moira Dingle’s (Natalie J Robb) house, and now the beloved character is in prison. Joe is hoping to take advantage of this situation as well, and make Moira sell Butler’s to the Tates.

Annoyingly for Joe, he faced a hurdle in tonight’s episode, and it came in the form of Kim. Neither of them have particularly big hearts, but Kim proved she has a stronger moral compass than Joe and issued a warning to him about Moira.

Kim told Joe to hold off trying to get Butler’s from Moira until the aftermath of Celia’s reign over the village has been dealt with.

Perhaps it’s because Kim was Celia’s landlord, but the scene also hinted at Kim feeling awful about Moira’s situation, and didn’t want to make things worse. She told Joe to take a step back, but remained adamant they’d still get the farm in the end.

Joe looked as though he was going to fall in line and do as Kim asked, but he later told Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) that he has no intention of leaving Moira alone.

A mistake if you ask me, considering Joe seems to invested in rebuilding the relationship he has with Kim and making her trust him again.

Will Joe live to regret his next move?

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Or will Graham step in and stop him?

MORE: Emmerdale ‘confirms’ unlikely person to save Moira – and destroy Kim

MORE: Charity declares war on Graham in early Emmerdale ITVX showdown

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NEW YORK (AP) — James Van Der Beek, a heartthrob who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in “Dawson’s Creek” and in later years mocking his own hunky persona, has died. He was 48.

“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come,” a statement from the actor’s family that was posted on Instagram said. “For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother and friend.”

Van Der Beek revealed in 2024 that he was being treated for colorectal cancer.

Van Der Beek made a surprise video appearance in September at a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion charity event in New York City after previously dropping out due to illness.

He appeared projected onstage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre during a live reading of the show’s pilot episode to benefit F Cancer and Van Der Beek. Lin-Manuel Miranda subbed for him on stage. “Thank you to every single person here,” Van Der Beek said.

Forever tied to ‘Dawson’s Creek’

A one-time theater kid, Van Der Beek would star in the movie “Varsity Blues” and on TV in “CSI: Cyber” as FBI Special Agent Elijah Mundo, but was forever connected to “Dawson’s Creek,” which ran from 1998 to 2003 on The WB.

The series followed a high school group of friends as they learned about falling in love, creating real friendships and finding their footing in life. Van Der Beek, than 20, played 15-year-old Dawson Leery, who aspired to be a director of Steven Spielberg quality.

“Dawson’s Creek,” with the moody theme song Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want To Wait,” helped define The WB as a haven for teens and young adults who related to its hyper-articulate dialogue and frank talk about sexuality. And it made household names of Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams.

The show caused a stir when one of the teens embarked on a racy affair with a teacher 20 years his senior and when Holmes’ character climbs through Dawson’s bedroom window and they curl up together. Racier shows like “Euphoria” and “Sex Education” owe a debt to “Dawson’s Creek.”

Van Der Beek sometimes struggled to get out from under the shadow of the show but eventually leaned into lampooning himself, like on Funny Or Die videos and on Kesha’s “Blow” music video, which included his laser gun battle with the pop star in a nightclub and dead unicorns.

“It’s tough to compete with something that was the cultural phenomenon that ‘Dawson’s Creek’ was,” he told Vulture in 2013. “It ran for so long. That’s a lot of hours playing one character in front of people. So it’s natural that they associate you with that.”

A popular GIF and ‘Varsity Blues’

More than a decade after the show went off the air, a scene at the end of the show’s third season became a GIF. Dawson was watching as his soul mate embarks on a love affair with his best friend and burst into tears.

“It wasn’t scripted that I was supposed to cry; it was just one of those things where it’s a magical moment and it just happens in the scene,” he told Vanity Fair. He seemed exasperated when he told the Los Angeles Times: “All of a sudden, six years of work was boiled down to one seven-second clip on loop.” (Van Der Beek himself recreated the GIF in 2011 for Funny or Die and gave it a second life.)

While still on “Dawson’s Creek,” Van Der Beek hosted “Saturday Night Live” — the musical guest was Everlast — and landed a plumb role in “Varsity Blues,” playing a second-string high school quarterback who leaps into the breach when the star suffers an injury.

Van Der Beek’s character, Mox, turns out to not be a football fanatic, preferring to read Kurt Vonnegut and yearning for the college education which will allow him to escape the jock mentality of his Texas town. “I don’t want your life,” he screams at one point. Critic Roger Ebert called him “convincing and likable.”

After ‘Dawson’s Creek’

Some of his projects after “Dawson’s Creek” include co-creating and playing Wesley “Diplo” Pentz, a dull but likable music producer in the mockumentary satire on Viceland, “What Would Diplo Do?” In 2019, he made it to the semifinals of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and played a balding, out-of-shape ex-boyfriend on “How I Met Your Mother.”

“The more you make fun of yourself and don’t try to go for any kind of respect, the more people seem to respect you,” he told Vanity Fair in 2011. “I’ve always been a clown trapped in a leading man’s body.”

Between 2003 and 2013, he made appearances in shows like “Criminal Minds,” “One Tree Hill,” and “How I Met Your Mother.” He played himself with a crackpot intensity in the Krysten Ritter-led ABC drama “Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23,” and the short-lived “CSI” spinoff “CSI: Cyber” and CBS’ “Friends With Better Lives.”

He’s also appeared in a number of movies, such as Kevin Smith’s 2001 comedy “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and its 2019 sequel, “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.” He also was in the Bret Easton Ellis adaptation of “The Rules of Attraction” in 2002 opposite Jessica Biel and Kate Bosworth.

In 2025, he was unmasked as Griffin on “The Masked Singer,” after singing a cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen.

Early life as a theater kid

Van Der Beek, who was raised in Cheshire, Connecticut, started acting at 13 after suffering a concussion playing football that prevented him from playing for a year on doctor’s orders. He landed the role of Danny Zuko in his school production of “Grease.”

He stuck with theater, landing at 16 in 1994 an off-Broadway role in “Finding the Sun” by Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee and one of the sons in a revival of “Shenandoah” at the prestigious Goodspeed Opera House in his home state.

He earned a scholarship to New Jersey’s Drew University but left school early when he got “Dawson’s Creek.” In 2024, he returned to campus to accept an honorary degree for his “selfless service and exemplary commitment to the mission of Drew,” the university said.

Drew University President Hilary Link welcomed Van Der Beek with a popular quote from his “Dawson’s Creek” character: “Edge is fleeting,” she said, “but heart lasts forever. So on this morning, we pay tribute to that heart.”

He is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and six children, Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah.

___

AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report.