Eric Idle Gets Mail, Then a Hazmat Response

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, nor an anthrax scare—but it was the latter that brought emergency workers to the Los Angeles residence of a Monty Python alum Monday evening. The LAPD reports the Hollywood Hills home of Eric Idle and his wife, Tania Kosevich, was evacuated after someone inside the home opened a certified piece of mail and powder appeared to spill out, per NBC Los Angeles. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ it was an employee who opened the letter, which the Guardian reports came from Thailand.

Police and fire officials, including hazmat workers, converged on the scene, but determined "there was no hazard ... [and] no powder to be found," Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Jim Holland told reporters, per Variety. Holland speculates the reported powdery substance could have been "just a little bit of dust that may have come from off the envelope." He adds that two women were taken to a hospital as a precaution, but they seemed to be fine. NBC News notes it's unclear whether Idle and his wife were home during the incident. (More Eric Idle stories.)