Seacrest Studios: A Worthy Mission
Founded in 2009, the foundation builds broadcast media centers (called Seacrest Studios) in children’s hospitals—now in 11 locations including Orlando and New Orleans indeed.com+12ryanseacrestfoundation.org+12publishersweekly.com+12.
These on-site studios allow young patients to host shows, interview guests, and find comfort and distraction during treatment ryanseacrestfoundation.org.
💼 Salary Controversy: Family vs. Mission
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Meredith Seacrest Leach, Ryan’s sister and RSF’s executive director/COO, earned approximately $250,000 annually in recent years arnoldpalmerhospital.com+13showbiz411.com+13people.com+13.
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Their father has also been paid a six-figure retainer (around $96K–$140K) showbiz411.com+1lamag.com+1.
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Yet, cash grants and equipment donations to beneficiaries (children’s hospitals) are comparatively modest—around $90,000 in one year, while total salaries exceeded half a million showbiz411.com+2showbiz411.com+2publishersweekly.com+2.
🔍 What Critics Say
Independent watchdogs like Showbiz411 have raised eyebrows over the imbalance between administrative pay and direct program spending, especially given the “tie to family” in payroll showbiz411.com+1showbiz411.com+1.
One Reddit user noted:
“A spot on Wheel plugging his sister’s children’s book”—not the foundation—“is a poor look.” indeed.com+5reddit.com+5showbiz411.com+5
✅ The Bottom Line
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RSF fulfills a valuable mission by building joy-focused media centers in hospitals.
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But, a persistent transparency issue remains: critics argue too much money goes to administrative roles, including Seacrest family members, with relatively little reaching direct charitable grants.
If you'd like a breakdown of RSF’s latest impact metrics, upcoming studio openings, or responses from Seacrest/Foundation, I can dive deeper!