US celebrity Kim Kardashian leaves court after testifying in the trial over the 2016 robbery that saw millions of dollars' worth of jewellery stolen at gunpoint in Paris, on May 13, 2025. Photo: AFP / Alain Jocard
By Joseph Ataman and Christian Edwards, CNN
Kim Kardashian, testifying in the trial of the burglars accused of tying her up and robbing her at gunpoint nearly nine years ago, told a Paris court on Tuesday (French time) that she "absolutely thought" her assailants would kill her.
"I have babies, I have to make it home, I have babies," Kardashian recalled pleading with the armed men, who had broken into her hotel room while she slept during Paris Fashion Week in 2016.
Facing her alleged attackers for the first time since the heist, the billionaire reality TV star detailed how she was robbed of nearly US$10 million (NZ$16.8m) in cash and jewellery, including a $4m engagement ring - gifted to her by her then-husband Kanye West - that was never recovered.
Kardashian was mostly calm during her testimony, which lasted more than two hours, but was on occasions reduced to tears as she described how the burglary had upended her life and changed how she organises her security.
The defendants - nine men and one woman whose ages range from 35 to 78 - are facing charges including armed robbery, kidnapping and conspiracy. Eight of them deny involvement, while two have pleaded guilty to some of the charges.
Kardashian arrived at court in the French capital with her mother, Kris Jenner, wearing a diamond-encrusted necklace - in a seeming nod to the jewels taken from her on the night of the burglary.
Kim Kardashian, left, leaves the courthouse in Paris with her mother Kris Jenner. Photo: AFP / Alain Jocard
On the night in October 2016, Kardashian recalled being woken up by the assailants and at first not knowing what the men were demanding.
"There was a lot of terrorist attacks happening in the world" around the time, Kardashian said. "I thought that's what it was."
One of the reasons the trial has taken so long to start is because of a backlog of major cases in France, including those related to the 2015 Paris terror attacks.
After the men had rifled through her jewellery box and snatched the engagement ring by the side of her bed, Kardashian said one of the robbers pressed a gun to her back and bound her hands together with a zip tie. She recalled being "hysterical," begging the robbers to let her live.
Having been woken up while wearing just a bathrobe, Kardashian said she feared the men would rape her. "I was naked under the robe. Everything was exposed and I was sure he was going to rape me. I said a prayer and got ready for it to happen… but he closed my legs and taped them," she said.
Kardashian then said she feared she would be killed - and that her sister, Kourtney, and friend, Simone Harouche, who was sleeping in an adjoining room downstairs, would have to find her body.
"I knew… they'd see that… that I'd be on the bed, shot dead on the bed and they would see that and have that in their brain forever," Kardashian said.
This court sketch made on May 13, 2025 in Paris shows Kim Kardashian testifying. Photo: AFP / Benoit Peyrucq
Harouche, who has known Kardashian since they were 12 years old and is a key witness in the trial, testified earlier on Tuesday. She said she had been hired as Kardashian's stylist in Paris for the fashion week, and was woken by the sound of the heist.
Fearing the burglars would next try to enter her room, Harouche locked herself in the bathroom and texted Kourtney and Kardashian's bodyguard, Pascal Duvier.
Duvier testified last week that he found Kardashian "crying hysterically" when he arrived at the hotel.
Once the burglars had left, Harouche described how Kardashian, having clearly "suffered major trauma", was frenetic and terrified that the men could soon return.
"I heard her hopping down the stairs. She came into my room and she had tape around her feet," Harouche said. "She was just screaming and kept saying: 'We need to get out of here. What do we do if they come back? We might need to jump out the window.'"
The night "changed her life forever," Harouche said. "I've seen her in grief, through a divorce, the worst of times. I've never seen her like this."
After the experience, Harouche said she no longer wanted to expose herself to the risk of working with celebrities. "I changed professions and now I do interior design," she added.
Dubbed the "Grandpa Robbers," of the original 12 suspects, one has since died, and another defendant who has Alzheimer's disease has been ruled unfit to stand trial. If convicted, some of the remaining defendants could face up to 30 years in prison.
Several are repeat offenders, and much of the start of the trial - which opened on 28 April - has focused on their previous criminal acts.
Toward the end of Kardashian's testimony, the presiding judge read her a letter from Aomar Aït Khedache, the alleged ringleader of the group, apologising for the trauma he had inflicted. Although he was in the courtroom, the 68-year-old Khedache is partially deaf and unable to speak, his lawyer told CNN before Tuesday's hearing.
"I want to come to you as a human being and say how much I regret my act," he wrote.
Visibly moved, Kardashian said she "forgives" him, "but it doesn't change the emotion and the feelings and the trauma".
The trial is scheduled to run through 22 May, with a verdict expected on 23 May.
-CNN
