Certainly we'd never wish suffering or terror on anyone, but it's refreshing to see our friends at MGM hand off this week's fleeing-in-terror duties to someone else for a change: A Defamer operative sent word minutes ago that staffers at MTV and Lionsgate have evacuated their positions due to a gas leak in the garage of their Santa Monica headquarters. But where to go, especially without the aid of their threatened vehicles?Where else? "Everyone is now having drinks at the Daily Grill," says our source of the shellshocked line of refugees filing across Colorado for some extra dry humanitarian aid — with two olives, and maybe some food. Can they have another minute to decide? Meanwhile, please say a prayer for their safe, swift return to work; if this turns out anything like the building's last crisis in 2006, we'll have an explanation (along with a video of the culprit) by the end of the day.

It feels just like old times today at MGM, where the dawn of a new, Weinstein-free era shines on the horizon and staffers are once again evacuating MGM Tower — "Running with boxes of precious scripts and screeners under my arm," in one Defamer operative's words — in the wake of yet another bomb threat. An official e-mail circulating now notes that the LAPD are en route and that, if everything checks out, operations are expected to resume around 2 p.m. We also hear that Fanboys was safely moved to an undisclosed location until Harvey arrives to pick it up after work; hopefully the worst is over. Official MGM correspondence follows after the jump. Be careful, Lions!

It wasn't just the Lumenick/Ebert skirmish that took nearly a week to reach the states via specially trained Canadian gossip pigeons. Now we're learning more about the fire that threatened Burn After Reading co-star Brad Pitt at his hotel in Toronto — or perhaps "threatened" is too strong a word. Maybe "damaged an adjacent complex while Pitt's security detail freaked the fuck out" might be a little more on point, according to a report:

This is turning out to be the week that was at MGM, where the studio celebrated Harry Sloan's recent re-upping with a bomb threat, a building evacuation and now, according to officials, a good old-fashioned anthrax scare inside MGM Tower. We hear the threat came in more than two hours ago, but MGM staff was only officially notified at 11:40. No mandatory evacuations are taking place during the investigation, though staffers have been advised, "If you feel uncomfortable remaining at the Tower you may leave upon notification to your Supervisor." Century City is the new Gotham — who knew? Follow the jump for the official e-mail making the rounds, and stay tuned for updates here as events warrant... Developing...