It was easily one of the strangest Las Vegas stories of 2023, and the fantastic news is it’s still not done.
An XS Nightclub manager is suing an unhinged high roller who plastered offensive messages attacking the Wynn staffer on the side of Resorts World. This story gets crazy even in a town known for its unmatched level of crazy.
The lawsuit by Niko Samarxhiu against bonehead Ben Ralph is asking for at least $2 million in damages, and we’ve got all the details, exclusively.
This is the part where we remind you we broke news of the original WTF back in 2023, and it probably would never have been a thing if we hadn’t.
There’s a lot of backstory, but nobody has time to read all that, so here’s the short version.
Ben Ralph, described as a “trust fund baby,” spent the day partying at Wynn’s Encore Beach Club. He then demanded XS Nightclub open early just for him. The manager of XS, Niko Samarxhiu, said no. “No” is not something wealthy, entitled nimrods are used to hearing in Las Vegas.
Ben Ralph promptly went nuts. He taunted Samarxhiu with profanity-laced texts and racist social media posts, and threatened to take his business elsewhere if Samarxhiu wasn’t fired.
Firing people because of hissy fits isn’t how things work in the real world, so Ralph went to nearby Resorts World. Once there, he convinced the staff at Zouk nightclub to put personal messages on the hotel’s massive screen (a perk afforded to big spenders in the club, sorry, once afforded big spenders, you’ll see).
One message taunted Wynn for having taken his business across the street. The screen faces Wynn.
Ralph also taunted Niko Samarxhiu, personally, via the Resorts World screen.
The message: “Food Stamps for Niko.” The subtext: Samarxhiu was out of work or soon would be, presumably due to the sheer enormity of Ben Ralph’s man-child dickishness.
Surreal and beyond the pale, especially given the fact Ralph threatened the life of Samarxhiu and his family.
Rumors at the time were Wynn contacted the authorities and law enforcement pursued the incident, results unclear.
After our story was published, Resorts World issued a statement: “The LED sign on the West Tower was activated on Saturday night with a graphic requested by a nightlife patron. The team members who approved it were not aware of the background behind the request. Regardless, this was a mistake, and the messaging displayed does not reflect Resorts World Las Vegas’s values, and we regret that our LED screen was misused in this manner. Our leadership is handling this internally to ensure the assets displayed on the LED screens are in full alignment with the brand and our values.”
It was difficult to stomach that statement at the time, but given more recent events, it’s even more awkward.
Brand values?
You mean the values where the former Resorts World president, Scott Sibella, pled guilty to a federal criminal charge (just the one!) for failing to file reports of suspicious transactions his casino was required to make pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act?
Or the other values where Resorts World could face massive fines in an alleged money laundering case?
Anyhoo, fast forward to today.
Niko Samarxhiu is represented by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, a well-known law firm in Las Vegas. We got our hands on the Complaint (.pdf), and you can read the entire thing if you’re bored.
The Complaint is, refreshingly, written in human English, unlike most legal documents. We especially like the way the Complaint has an undertone of calling Ben Ralph an asshole, but without coming right out and saying it. Lawyers can’t really do that. We can, because it’s our opinion. We love you, First Amendment.
The lawsuit confirms Ben Ralph was, indeed, arrested for “terroristic threatening.” That’s the legal term for when somebody tries to “terrorize” someone through threats of violence, the threat typically has to be imminent. Terroristic threats can be written, oral or physical. The other kind of terrorism, prevented by taking one’s belt and shoes off at airports, is something else.
The Complaint contains some texts with colorful language, all supporting the assertion Ben Ralph is a despicable human being, and we’re using the term “human being” very loosely here. We’re mainly including this page of the lawsuit because when the Las Vegas Review-Journal takes our story and writes about it (without attribution, of course), they will bleep out these parts.
At one point, Ralph threatens to send his “Dad’s enforcer” to visit Samarxhiu. The term “enforcer” is described as “unambiguous” in the lawsuit. We agree. The only people who use this term have unambiguously small penises.
Our favorite part of the Complaint is on page 11. Item number 36 mentions our immense social media reach, and 48 includes a particularly eloquent and incisive quote from a Las Vegas blog of note.
Yes, a couple of our Tweets about this kerfuffle got more than 1.5 million impressions. Not that we have to make everything about us. Just because we brought an injustice to the attention of the public, selflessly sacrificing our afternoon to write a story that has resulted in a moron getting his comeuppance. That’s just who we are.
That quote is from our blog, too. It resulted in Resorts World and Zouk changing their policy to avoid such shameful shenanigans in the future. If our selflessness seems boundless, we are not going to disagree with your assessment. If this level of generosity inspires you to DM us nudes, again, what selfless person would discourage such an act of self-expression?
Back to the lawsuit!
The smoothest move in the lawsuit has to be this item: “While Resorts World says that its decision to enable some of Ben’s attacks ‘was a mistake’ and did not ‘reflect Resorts World’s values,’ Resorts World was apparently happy to keep the $200,000 they received for their part in Ben’s campaign of intimidation and harassment. The company certainly did not give any of the money they were paid (for what they claim to have been a ‘mistake’) to their victim—Niko.”
As our fellow youths and their attorneys say, “Boom.”
There are two claims for relief: 1) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, and 2) False Light Invasion of Privacy. No, being an idiot isn’t against the law. We’d need much bigger prisons.
The relief sought by Samarxhiu and his lawyer? 1) An award of damages according to proof, but not less than $2,000,000. 2) An award of punitive damages according to proof. 3) Any further relief the Court deems to be just and proper. 5) An award of costs.
We misnumbered those intentionally just so see if you’re skimming. We know how you are.
Which means the rich guy’s daddy will hire an attorney to negotiate a settlement, the over/under is a cool million, and Niko Samarxhiu’s kids will get to go to expensive colleges.
We love a happy ending, and Niko Samarxhiu has the receipts.
The doofus, Ben Ralph, and his high-priced lawyers will claim Ralph was drunk after partying all day and was just joking. The claim will be his threats shouldn’t have been taken seriously because his texts and social media posts appear to have been written by someone with severe head trauma. Ralph may also take a shot at the “I’m in Australia, neener-neener-neener defense.” The lawsuit says Ralph is an Australian citizen but lives in California. Fleeing the country is a common strategy when jerkwads are faced with legal challenges. See also Roman Polanski and possibly Puffy, or whatever he’s called now.
Once the lawyers see how this case goes, they can take a look at whether Resorts World is complicit in what happened, and don’t be surprised if Resorts World gets slapped with a lawsuit, too.
Resorts World must not have run their statement by their lawyers, because it says “mistake” in it. The days of “handling things internally” are long gone in Las Vegas, ending right around the time Steve Wynn’s team (including Fontainebleau’s current president Maurice Wooden) handled things internally until the Wall Street Journal blew up Steve Wynn’s legacy like Cersei blowing up the Great Sept of Baelor with wildfire.
A source provided us with an internal Zouk group text that shows how Ralph’s messages ended up on the Resorts World screen. Behold, the exact moment when things went sideways.
Rob Kuba is in nightlife operations at Resorts World.
Jon Opas, at the time the Executive Director of Lifestyle Marketing for Resorts World, is no longer with the resort. Following the Ralph incident in 2023, Jon Opas reached out to us, basically to clarify the team at Zouk wasn’t aware of the conflict that transpired between Ralph and Samarxhiu earlier in the evening. That reaching out may have contributed to his departure from Resorts World, as he had been told not to speak to the media. It was also rumored he extending $250,000 in credit to the Ralph without a credit card on file or signed bill. Opas is currently working in Asia with his friend Alex Cordova, the former Wynn nightlife executive at the center of an alleged Palms/Kaos/Marshmello kickback scandal we busted open a few years ago. Nightlife is an incestuous business.
Dylan Marqez, who was just following orders, is an Entertainment A/V Technician at Resorts World.
We’ll be watching the progress of this case closely, of course, and possibly testifying if we have nothing better to do that day. We’re always happy to help fight the good fight as long as: 1) it doesn’t compromise our sources and 2) it makes something even more about us.
For the record, we aren’t the one with issues, you are. You read this far. Weirdo.
