At 8 a.m. on Tuesday, June 25, he sat in an office with Anna Wintour, the company’s artistic director, and a member of the human resources department, who proceeded to do just that.

On Wednesday, June 26, he sued Advance, the parent company of Condé Nast, for breach of contract, and people at W went back to work.

On Thursday, Advance countersued him.

“IT HAPPENED VERY QUICKLY,” was all Ms. Moonves cared to say about her hiring as she stepped into a black Escalade bound for a Chelsea gallery, site of the spring Proenza Schouler show. She had on black pants from the Row, which is designed by two of her best friends, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. On top she wore a leopardy, zebra-ish coat designed by Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, who are also two of her “best friends.”

“Proenza for the Proenza show,” Ms. Moonves said.

When the car arrived at the gallery, Ms. Moonves walked into the fashion equivalent of a college reunion, chatting with the model Karen Elson, the British Vogue editor Edward Enninful and the photographer Theo Wenner (all of whom she has worked with).

Ms. Moonves was seated in the front row next to W’s editor at large, Lynn Hirschberg, who books the magazine’s covers and is something of a legend in the business. Ms. Hirschberg started at Rolling Stone, after which she did long stints at Vanity Fair and The New York Times Magazine, where she wrote big stories about the business of Hollywood and wrangled celebrities for T: The New York Times Style Magazine. (Mr. Tonchi was the editor of T from 2004 to 2010.)

She left The Times in 2010 to go to W with Mr. Tonchi, but she grew increasingly exasperated with his behavior during the sale. So when Mr. Tonchi walked into the Proenza show and took his seat across the room, Ms. Hirschberg floated the idea of going over to let him have it.