Craig Ferguson Discusses Anthrax Scare on ‘Late Late Show’

The comedian Craig Ferguson seemed to be in good spirits on Tuesday evening when he wrote on his Twitter account, “Ack! Someone mailed my show white powder & claimed it was anthrax. I’m not a big fan of that sort of thing.”

But Mr. Ferguson, the host of CBS’s “Late Late Show,” was not entirely kidding, and explained what happened in a monologue recorded Tuesday and planned for broadcast early Wednesday, according to remarks released by CBS.

“Today someone sent an envelope packed with white powder to the show,” Mr. Ferguson told the studio audience at “Late Late Show,” which is produced in Los Angeles. “I offered to test it, but they said no. The police did test it and it’s not dangerous, so you have no excuse to leave.”

“Nowadays,” Mr. Ferguson continued, “white powder in the mail is a bad thing. I called CBS security and they said, ‘We’re busy.’ So I told them I am a personal friend of Drew Carey and they sent somebody over right away.” (Mr. Carey, who gave Mr. Ferguson an early break on his ABC sitcom “The Drew Carey Show,” is now host of “The Price Is Right” on CBS.)

Later in the program, Mr. Ferguson said, “I was going to come out and talk about the earthquake, but I can’t do that now. Because the earthquake only scared millions of people on the East Coast, but the white powder did something much worse — it scared me.”

CBS did not immediately provide any additional details about the package or who might have sent it. The Associated Press reported that two people were temporarily held at the “Late Late Show” studio after being exposed to the powder on Tuesday afternoon and were released after a hazardous materials team determined it was benign. Detective Gus Villanueva of the Los Angeles Police Department told The A.P. that the powder came in an envelope sent from overseas.
On his Twitter account, Mr. Ferguson offered his thanks to the F.B.I., the Los Angeles Police Department and Fire Department and the CBS security staff.
Last week, Mr. Ferguson’s CBS late-night colleague David Letterman, who hosts the network’s “Late Show” and whose company Worldwide Pants produces “Late Late Show,” was threatened on a message board used by Al Qaeda. While the F.B.I. is investigating that incident, Mr. Letterman joked about it on his program on Monday, telling his audience: “They’re questioning, they’re interrogating, there’s an electronic trail — but everybody knows it’s Leno.”