Kim Kardashian appeared in a French court on Tuesday morning, May 13, about the painfully armed robbery she endured at a Paris hotel in 2016: “I definitely do think I’m going to die,” she testified.
Kardashian was robbed by gunfire on October 3, 2016, with a liar allegedly holding more than $6 million in jewelry. French authorities have now charged 10 people, nine men and one woman in connection with the robbery, and prosecutors accused the crew of the crew as part of an experienced criminal gang. (Many suspects were in the 1960s and 1970s, leading French media to nickname them "Les Papys Braqueurs", which translated to "The Grandpa Robbers".)
In the stands, Kardashian testified that when she first heard the robber climbing the stairs in the hotel room, she thought it was her sister, Kourtney, who was a friend who went out from one night to return. Eventually, the door to her room was thrown away, and Kardashian said the two men were dressed "dressed as policemen." She said they were with them the night receptionist at the hotel in handcuffs.
Kardashian said when they first entered, the robbers kept asking for a ring, ostensibly referring to the approximately $4 million diamond given to her by then-husband Husband Kanye West. But Kardashian said she was "so shocked" that she thought it might be a terrorist attack.
"Honestly, there are a lot of terrorist attacks in the world, and my friends and I are talking about what is going on in the world," Kardashian said. "I didn't get what happened, and even if they specifically asked for my ring, I didn't get my jewelry."
Eventually, Kardashian said a robber found a ring next to her bed, while another found a jewelry box while the plate was inserted into her stuff. When Kardashian tried to grab the phone to remind her bodyguard, she said someone grabbed her phone and pulled her out of bed and took her to the hallway while searching for more jewelry. She said a man held a gun toward her back and thought of running before realizing that she should “do everything they said.”
According to Kardashian, the bandit eventually threw her back on the bed and tied her hands with zippers. She remembers telling the night receptionist: "Please convert to (robber) I have a baby and I have to go home."
Kardashian said she had been wearing a bathrobe and she remembered it was "the moment he raped me." However, the man tied his feet together, pressed them against her mouth, and locked her in the bathroom.
Kardashian said that after a few minutes the noise in another room stopped and she began to release herself. She was able to remove the zipper from the tape in her wrist and mouth and then left the bathroom to look for stylist Simone Harouche, who had been sleeping downstairs and locked herself in the bathroom during the robbery. Harouche helps Kardashian remove her footsteps.
At the end of the testimony, Kardashian talked about the long-term effects of the robbery, saying she had a "phobia of going out" to prevent people from "seeing me out and knowing that my home is empty." She added: "If I knew there were no more than one security guard (guard), I couldn't even fall asleep at night."
Kardashian even addressed one of the defendants, Aomar Ait Khedache, who admitted to participating in the robbery and sent a letter to Kardashian after being arrested in 2017. “I do appreciate this letter,” she said. "I'm really grateful. I forgave you. But it didn't change the emotions, feelings, trauma, and my life."