The Penske Media Corporation offices in Los Angeles and New York were evacuated Wednesday after Variety received a security threat, PMC management told employees in a memo obtained by TheWrap.
The memo read: “Today we received a threat to the safety of one of our brands at our office location, so after consultation with PMC Security we decided to close the offices in LA and NY for the remainder of the day (Wednesday 2/17) out of an abundance of caution.”
The Los Angeles building, which serves as headquarters for PMC-owned publication Variety and also houses The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and other outlets, was closed for the remainder of the day.
An insider at the company told TheWrap that staffers “on the grapevine” were told it was a bomb threat. No further details were immediately available. A representative for the Los Angeles Police Dept. said there had been no report of a threat made at that location.
The memo said that the company will implement heightened security beginning Thursday, including more guards at the company’s New York offices and more restricted access in Los Angeles. The company has limited staff on site due to COVID-19 safety measures, with most editorial employees working remotely and some business staff on site.
Representatives for PMC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from TheWrap.
Read the memo sent to PMC employees below:
Dear PMC Team,
Today we received a threat to the safety of one of our brands at our office location, so after consultation with PMC Security we decided to close the offices in LA and NY for the remainder of the day (Wednesday 2/17) out of an abundance of caution.
We are closely monitoring the situation and expect the offices to be opened tomorrow (Thursday 2/18). We will have a larger presence of security guards in the NY office, and in LA we are bolstering security measures by keeping the office entrance doors locked and the parking lot gates down, both of which will require your badge access card to enter. The Police Department in both locations have been notified to be on alert.