Busy Philipps Tears Up Over 'Heartbreaking' Dawson’s Creek Reunion Without James Van Der Beek

It was a roller coaster of emotions!

The cast of Dawson’s Creek finally reunited in New York City on Monday night — but, sadly, leading man James Van Der Beek had to drop out at the last minute due to suffering from “two stomach viruses” amid his cancer battle. They all made the best of the event, but for Busy Philipps, it was “heartbreaking” to go on without him!

The actress took to her Instagram Story to process the reunion after the fact, emotionally telling fans it was super sad “for a million different reasons” not to have James there. That said, she was happy his family — including wife, Kimberly, and their six kids — represented him:

“But I was so glad that Kimberly and all the kids [were there].”

She said James’ dad and sister were also there, as well as Kimberly’s family and friends. Awesome! The event was held to support James amid his cancer treatment and F**k Cancer, so we get why it was so important for them all to show up. And everyone made sure the 48-year-old didn’t feel like he was missing too much:

“It was just really beautiful. And James is getting lots of videos and Facetimes and texts and things and we just love him so much.”

So sweet!

The Varsity Blues alum also made a surprise virtual appearance via a pre-recorded video to thank fans for attending, wish his cast well, and introduce his understudy for the live pilot reading, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Watch the comedian’s reflection of the night (below):

Busy also shared a video of the cast singing the show’s theme song, I Don’t Wanna Wait. Two of James’ daughters took the stage and each had solos – and you know there wasn’t a dry eye in the house! Busy owned up:

“ngl. i did have to turn around for a sec when the girls started singing because i was starting to sob and needed to get it together so we could finish it!”