PARIS (AP) 鈥 Kim Kardashian said a silent prayer 鈥 for her sister, her best friend, her family 鈥 as a masked man pulled her toward him in a Paris hotel room during the 2016 jewelry heist that changed her life. She was wearing only a bathrobe. Her hands were zip-tied. Her mouth was taped. She thought she wouldn鈥檛 survive.
鈥淚 was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me,鈥 she told a Paris court Tuesday. 鈥淚 absolutely did think I was going to die.鈥
When she heard footsteps thundering up the stairs that night, Kardashian said she first thought it was her sister Kourtney and a friend returning from a night out. The noise got louder. 鈥淗ello? Hello? Who is it?鈥 she called out. Moments later, her door flew open.
She begged the robbers: 鈥淚 have babies,鈥 she said. One replied that she would be OK if she stayed quiet.
The last time Kardashian saw the men that police say robbed her, she was bound at gunpoint and locked in a marble bathroom while masked assailants stole more than $6 million in jewelry. On Tuesday, nearly a decade later, she faced them again from the witness stand.
Her testimony marked the emotional climax of a trial that has gripped France and and what it means to live 鈥 and nearly die 鈥 in public.
At the time of the robbery, Kardashian was one of the most recognized women on the planet. A fashion icon. A reality star. A billionaire business mogul. She had mastered a new kind of celebrity 鈥 one broadcast in real time, post by post, to millions of followers.
But in the early hours of Oct. 3, 2016, that visibility became a weapon against her. The robbery marked a turning point for Kardashian, and for how the world understood vulnerability in the digital age.
Dressed in black, Kardashian on Tuesday stood across from her mother, Kris Jenner, in the heavily secured courtroom. Her voice trembled as she thanked French authorities for 鈥渁llowing me to share my truth.鈥
She described how the attackers arrived at her hotel disguised as police officers, dragging the concierge upstairs in handcuffs. 鈥淚 thought it was some sort of terrorist attack,鈥 she said.
They tied her hands, dragged her toward the bathtub and pointed a gun at her temple. One gestured at her diamond ring. 鈥淗e said, 鈥楻ing! Ring!鈥 and he pointed to his hand,鈥 she recalled.
French prosecutors say the assailants 鈥 most in their 60s and 70s 鈥 were part of a seasoned criminal ring that tracked Kardashian鈥檚 movements through her Instagram posts. Two of the defendants have admitted being at the scene. One claims he didn鈥檛 know who she was.
Twelve suspects were originally charged. One has since died. Another was excused due to illness. The French press dubbed the group (asterisk)les papys braqueurs(asterisk) 鈥 鈥渢he grandpa robbers鈥 鈥 but prosecutors insist they were no harmless retirees.
Kardashian, who once shared nearly every moment of her life online, later acknowledged the dangers of that hyper-visibility. 鈥淧eople were watching,鈥 she said in a 2021 interview. 鈥淭hey knew what I had. They knew where I was.鈥
Earlier in the trial, Kardashian鈥檚 childhood friend and then stylist, Simone Harouche, testified that she had been sleeping downstairs when the robbery began. She heard Kardashian鈥檚 voice: 鈥溾業 have babies and I need to live.鈥 That is what she kept on saying, 鈥楾ake everything. I need to live.鈥欌
Kardashian, she said, was 鈥渟creaming with terror in her voice.鈥
Harouche locked herself in the bathroom and texted Kourtney Kardashian and the bodyguard: 鈥淪omething is very wrong.鈥 Later, she heard Kardashian hopping down the stairs with her ankles still bound. 鈥淪he was beside herself,鈥 Harouche said. 鈥淪he just was screaming.鈥
Harouche testified that the robbery 鈥渇orever鈥 changed her friend鈥檚 sense of freedom. 鈥淪he now has a completely different lifestyle,鈥 she said. 鈥淚n terms of security, she can鈥檛 go alone, she doesn鈥檛 go alone to places anymore. To lose your sense of freedom ... it鈥檚 horrible.鈥
Judge David De Pas asked whether Kardashian had made herself a target by posting photos of herself with 鈥渏ewels of great value.鈥 Harouche rejected the premise. 鈥淛ust because a woman wears jewelry, that doesn鈥檛 make her a target,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 like saying that because a woman wears a short skirt that she deserves to be raped.鈥
In the days after the robbery, critics like designer Karl Lagerfeld questioned whether Kardashian had shared too much. But as the details emerged, public sentiment began to shift.
In the aftermath, Kardashian withdrew from public life. She developed anxiety and symptoms of agoraphobia. 鈥淚 hated to go out,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want anybody to know where I was 鈥 I just had such anxiety.鈥
Kardashian鈥檚 lawyers say she is 鈥減articularly grateful鈥 to French authorities 鈥 and ready to confront those who attacked her.
