Reality TV star Kim Kardashian instructed a Paris court docket on Tuesday she feared she could be killed by the masked males who robbed her at gunpoint of some $10 million of jewelry in her resort room in 2016, however expressed her forgiveness regardless of the “trauma”.
The trial of 10 suspects has attracted big media consideration, with near 500 reporters accredited, and crowds flocking across the courthouse on Paris’s historic Ile de la Cite hoping for a glimpse of the superstar.
“Hi! I’m Kim Kardashian and I just want to thank everyone, especially the French authorities, for allowing me to testify today and tell my truth,” she instructed the packed court docket, carrying a black skirt swimsuit and jewelled necklace.
“I came to Paris for Fashion Week and Paris is always a place I love so much,” Kardashian mentioned, giving the court docket her account of the evening of October 2-3, 2016, when she was robbed whereas staying at an unique, discreet resort within the centre of the town.
She was in her room — “with my best friend downstairs, my sister and my friend and my mom… all out for the night” — when she heard “stomping” up the steps.
Then individuals “who I assumed were police officers because they were in uniform” entered her room, mentioned Kardashian, who’s among the many world’s most adopted individuals on Instagram and X.
“Then I heard one of the gentlemen say ‘ring’ a few times over, ‘ring’, ‘ring’ and he pointed his finger with an accent,” she mentioned, including that she did not at first “understand it was for my jewelry”.
The man discovered what he was searching for: a diamond ring given to Kardashian by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West, and valued at 3.5 million euros ($3.9 million).
The attackers then started to search for extra valuables, threatened Kardashian with a gun and tied her up with a zipper tie, she mentioned, visibly emotional.
“I was certain that he was going to shoot me, so I said a prayer for my family.”
Asked by the presiding decide if she feared she was going to be killed, Kardashian replied: “I absolutely did. I thought I was going to die.”
She mentioned she additionally feared she could be raped however the man with the gun “closed my legs and put a tape on my leg.”
Kardashian mentioned she was “grabbed and dragged into the other room” however not hit by the boys.
Their sudden look and the gun had been, nevertheless, “absolutely terrifying”.
From feedback from one of many males, “I felt that he wanted me to know that I would be OK if I just shut up,” she mentioned. “Ultimately I decided not to resist and stay calm. That calmness saved my life.”
Those on trial are primarily males of their 60s and 70s with earlier felony data, with nicknames comparable to “Old Omar” and “Blue Eyes”.
Sixty-eight-year-old Aomar Ait Khedache, generally known as “Old Omar”, has admitted to tying up Kardashian however denies being the mastermind of the theft.
Another suspect within the dock, 71-year-old Yunice Abbas, later wrote a e-book in regards to the heist.
Khedache, who in response to his attorneys is not in a position to communicate on account of well being issues, instructed Kardashian that he “regrets” his actions in a letter that was learn out in court docket. He mentioned he had been “moved and touched by your tears”.
Kardashian, who appeared tearful in the course of the studying, mentioned: “I do appreciate the letter, for sure” and “I’ve always believed in the second chance.”
She added: “I forgive you for what has taken place but it does not change the emotion, the feelings, the trauma and the way my life changed.”
Kardashian has by no means considered her safety in the identical means for the reason that Paris theft, she instructed the court docket.
“It changed the way that I felt safe at home,” she mentioned, including she now relied on as much as six safety guards there.
“We have security everywhere we go,” she mentioned, including she now longer posts her whereabouts in actual time “unless it is on a public schedule”.
Kardashian additionally mentioned she had undergone remedy to cope with her fears as a result of “I have babies that I have to raise,” however “I try to be strong.”
Asked about options made on the time that the theft might have been a publicity stunt or insurance coverage fraud, Kardashian mentioned that these experiences had been “really hurtful”.
The U.S. superstar, generally described as being “famous for being famous”, turned well-known within the early 2000s by way of TV actuality exhibits, earlier than launching vogue manufacturers and showing in a number of movies.
The trial is scheduled to run till May 23.
© 2025 AFP