FBI Investigating Suspicious Package Sent to Lionsgate

Several sources say perhaps dozens of other businesses also received similar packages today

The Lionsgate offices in Santa Monica. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

A suspicious package filled with white powder that was sent to the Santa Monica offices of Lionsgate prompted local emergency services to rush to the scene on Thursday afternoon, The Ankler has learned. 

At around noon a package bearing a white powder addressed to Lionsgate was discovered by an employee on the first floor of the offices who quickly called 911. The Santa Monica Fire Department was dispatched and once on the scene, several firemen cordoned off the first floor on the 2700 block of Colorado Avenue where the package was opened, according to several employees present. Wearing hazmat suits, several firemen removed the package and then tested the powder, which was non-threatening. Lionsgate offices were not evacuated. According to several sources, a number of these packages — dozens perhaps — were sent to a variety of businesses on Thursday, although The Ankler has only been able to confirm the package sent to Lionsgate. 

A spokesman for Lionsgate declined to comment and directed our inquiry to the FBI. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lionsgate’s mailroom is on the first floor along with a Vietnamese restaurant, reception, and some screening rooms, and is sparsely populated. The film team is on the fourth floor while television executives and the C-suite are on the fifth floor. 

Tensions have been rising in recent weeks as the WGA strike approaches its fourth month while SAG-AFTRA is in seventh week. On Friday, IATSE Local 80 closed its offices after they received a threatening letter that was reportedly sent from an out-of-work grip.

Whether these packages with the white powder that arrived on Thursday are related to the strike is unclear. 

One Lionsgate employee tells The Ankler: “I appreciate how they handled it. They didn’t overreact and they didn’t under-react. They did exactly what they should’ve done.”