But more than 15 other current and former Review-Journal employees and vendors, in interviews conducted over 14 months, said that Moyer’s “jerk off” comment-he, too, declined to speak for this story, as did Moon-was among a number of inappropriate behaviors by a group of men who worked together off and on at various media companies over several decades and took over the Las Vegas media world.īetween April 2017 and February 2018, the Review-Journal was the subject of at least three harassment and discrimination filings with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission one with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission at least two payouts involving nondisclosure agreements, including Frisbee’s allegations of a hostile work environment (in an unemployment benefits filing) through the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation and internal complaints to the paper’s human resources department by Frisbee and other staff members who claimed that the office atmosphere was hostile and abusive. She declined to discuss her experience, citing a nondisclosure agreement she’d signed. “It was blatant, and it was very, very awkward.” Over time, Moon’s behavior “was really uncomfortable,” Rypka said Frisbee told her. “It took her by surprise,” Rypka told me. Frisbee told Rypka that Moon kissed Frisbee unsolicited on the lips. Moon took to commenting on Frisbee’s looks, saying that she was the “sexiest” and “best-looking” woman at a work event, or that she looked “really sexy in that outfit,” according to Marsala Rypka, a writer who freelanced for Luxury Las Vegas, and in whom Frisbee confided at the time the statements were made. Frisbee and Blaser began dating, and would go on to see each other for several months. In the following days, the photo would rip through the paper’s offices, as staffers shared it via text. The party guest remembers that Blaser laughed and showed off Moyer’s text, which had the same message, to others nearby. “Here’s something you can jerk off to later,” Moyer said to anyone who was listening, according to a person who heard the comment. His right arm reaches around her lower back and his left hand rests on her knee. Blaser, a compact, graying bachelor, peeks out from behind her in a blue-checked button-down. The picture shows Frisbee-a 49-year-old former health and fitness journalist with cropped blonde hair and green eyes-dressed in a long sleeveless burgundy gown, her back to Moyer, looking over her shoulder and smiling. They turned in his direction, and he snapped a photo with his cellphone. As the two leaned in to talk, Moyer called out to them. Moyer, with a gray goatee and mustache, spotted Blaser talking to Leslie Frisbee, the editor in chief of Luxury Las Vegas. But before long, Moyer killed some of the buzz. Review-Journal employees who were at the party remember a boisterous atmosphere-and a high-profile networking opportunity to solicit ads promoting upcoming arena events: a Guns ‘N’ Roses reunion, a George Strait residency, and the inaugural season of a new National Hockey League team, the Vegas Golden Knights. Also present was Chris Blaser, 57, a former San Francisco Chronicle executive who had just taken over the Review-Journal ’s circulation operation as vice president of audience.

Moon had lured Moyer out of a quiet academic life in Minnesota two months earlier to become editor in chief. At his side was his longtime friend and lieutenant, Keith Moyer, 66, a former Gannett and McClatchy executive. Craig Moon, 68, had been publisher of the Review-Journal for less than three months. Managers from some of those titles were at the party, too.įor the Review-Journal, the celebration was a coming out of sorts. In addition to a daily newspaper, the Review-Journal produces a number of niche publications, including Luxury Las Vegas, a glossy monthly, and El Tiempo, a weekly Spanish-language newspaper. Inside were executives and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada’s largest media outlet. In a private box with two bars, alcohol flowed.

Fireworks and a laser show lit up the sky. The Killers, a hometown alt-rock band, performed. The city was gathering to celebrate the opening of the T-Mobile Arena, a $375 million building on the south end of the Strip that had been three years in the making. Even for a town like Las Vegas, April 6, 2016, was a big night.

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