Kim Kardashian took the stand in a Paris courtroom to testify about allegedly being robbed at gunpoint in 2016.
The reality star, 44, testified in the trial against 10 suspects in Paris on Tuesday, May 13. She began her testimony by telling the court that the incident “changed everything” she previously loved about Paris, per NBC News.
Kardashian said that she was in bed when she heard “stomping” outside, at which point men dressed as police officers entered the room. They had a handcuffed man with them, who was the concierge from the first floor.
“I, obviously, was very confused when they walked in,” she recalled, noting she repeatedly asked the concierge what was happening. “I understand how shocked he was and he was just a victim just like me.”
The robbers then kept asking for Kardashian’s ring, and one of them pushed her onto the bed. “I said to the concierge, ‘I have babies, tell them, I just have to make it home,’” she told the court on Tuesday, adding that the concierge replied, “‘I don’t know, I don’t know if we’re going to die.’”
While she was on the bed, one of the men put tape around her hands and mouth as another held a gun toward her. “He grabs my legs and pulls me. I’m naked and my everything is exposed,” she recalled. “I was sure that I was going to be raped.”
Kardashian went on to say that she began praying for her sister Kourtney because she was worried she’d return to the hotel and find her dead. When the judge asked whether she thought she would die that night, Kardashian replied, “I absolutely thought I was going to die.”
At one point, the robbers allegedly left her on the bathroom floor, where she was able to get the tape off her hands. From there she found her stylist Simone Harouche, who was staying on the floor below her, and they escaped outside and hid in the bushes.
Kardashian noted her security methods have changed drastically since 2016, telling the judge that she now needs between four and six guards at her home at night “just for me to feel safe.”
In October 2016, Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in her Paris hotel room while visiting France for fashion week. She brought jewelry on the trip that was worth more than $10 million, including a $4 million diamond ring from her then-husband, Kanye West, which she showed off on social media in the days leading up to her travels. Five men disguised as law enforcement allegedly entered her hotel room and ordered her to give them the ring, tying her up and pointing a gun at her.
Kardashian recounted the harrowing ordeal in a police statement published by local French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche in January 2017.
“I heard a noise at the door, like, footsteps, and I shouted to ask who was there, but no one answered,” she said. “I called my bodyguard at 2:56 a.m. Then, beyond the sliding doors, I saw two people arrive with the gentleman from reception, and he was tied up. Both men were hooded, one had a ski mask and he had a cap and a jacket with ‘police’ on it. The second man had the same ‘police’ clothes, but did not have any ski mask. … It was the one with the ski mask who stayed with me.”
She added, “He took out a gun and I showed him the ring. He had gloves. He asked me where the jewels and the money were. And at that point, they tied me up and put plastic cables and Scotch tape on my hands, and then taped my mouth and my legs.”
During a 2020 appearance on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman, Kardashian confessed that she feared for her life during the incident.
“I kept on thinking about Kourtney [Kardashian],” Kim said of her sister, who traveled to Paris with her but was not at the hotel at the time of the robbery. “I kept on thinking, like, ‘She’s gonna come home and I’m gonna be dead in the room and she’s gonna be traumatized for the rest of her life.’”
Ultimately, 10 suspects went to trial after being charged in connection to the robbery. The accused have denied involvement, except for those whose DNA was found at the crime scene. The trial began in Paris on April 28 and is scheduled to run through May 23.
News broke in March that Kim would testify in the trial, with a source telling Us Weekly at the time that she felt “empowered” to take the stand.
“She went through a horrible ordeal, and this is giving her the power to fight back,” the insider shared. “Kim feels the robbery changed her and made her stronger, and this is a symptom of that strength.”
