France Kim Kardashian on robbery: 'I thought I was going to die'
For US star Kim Kardashian, her appearance in court in Paris is a painful reminder - of a robbery eight and a half years ago in which she was certain to die. Dressed elegantly in all black with her hair pinned up, the media star arrives at the Palace of Justice in a car with darkened windows, where there is a huge media frenzy hours beforehand.
13.05.2025, 11:36
13.05.2025, 20:31
SDA
Normally, Kardashian's visits to Paris are all about fashion, chic stores and cafés. Now, in a testimony lasting several hours with many questions, she has to review the brutal and traumatizing robbery in which the perpetrators stole millions worth of jewelry. The star's statements are emotional at times and tears are shed.
"I thought I was going to die"
"I was absolutely sure, I thought I was going to die," Kardashian testifies. "I thought it was some kind of terrorist attack, I didn't realize it was about my ring." During the night-time attack on her in a luxury residence in Paris in 2016, she was alone in her room when she suddenly heard loud noises. Two men dressed as police officers stormed into her room, along with the hotel porter, whom they had taken control of. One of the men shouted loudly in English: "The ring, the ring, the ring."
After the intruders found the valuable ring on her bed and another box of jewelry, the two began to tie her up. Kardashian recounts how she shouted in panic to the doorman: "Do we have to die now? I have two babies, I have to go back home".
According to Kardashian herself, she was lying on the bed with her hands and feet bound and also gagged. Her nightgown slipped out of place and she was partially undressed. "That was the moment I thought they were going to rape me," said Kim Kardashian. "I prayed and braced myself."
"Was sure they were going to shoot me"
Instead, the perpetrators threatened her with a gun. "I was sure that was the moment they were going to shoot me." She had imagined that her sister Kourtney would later find her like this, dead and shot on the bed.
Kardashian was attacked on the night of October 3, 2016 in a luxury apartment in the chic 8th district of Paris. Five robbers disguised as police officers appeared outside the residence. Two of them took control of the doorman and stormed into Kardashian's room wearing masks and holding a gun. There they threatened her at gunpoint, bound and gagged her arms and legs with duct tape and stole jewelry worth around nine million euros, including the star's engagement ring with an 18.88-carat diamond.
Kardashian thought of her children
Kardashian's stylist, who was in the apartment with her during the attack, also testified at the robbery trial. "I was afraid for my life and Kim's," said the woman who had traveled from the USA to testify. "I have children, I have to stay alive, take everything," Kim Kardashian had screamed. "It was terror."
When asked by the judge whether Kardashian had possibly made herself the target of robbers because she had presented herself with her expensive jewelry on social networks, the stylist reacted with incomprehension. "That's like saying: "If a woman wears a short skirt, she deserves to be raped"."
"Grandpa gangster" in the dock
Since the end of April, nine men and one woman have been on trial in Paris for the robbery. The defendants, whose average age is around 60, have been described by the French press as "grandpa gangsters". Two of them have confessed, one has even published a book about the robbery: "I robbed Kim Kardashian" (J'ai séquestré Kim Kardashian). The others deny involvement in the crime. The stolen jewelry was never found, and the investigators are certain that the perpetrators turned the valuable loot into money in Antwerp.
The trial becomes emotional when the presiding judge reads out a letter of apology. One of the defendants had addressed it to Kardashian from custody in 2017 when he overheard her talking about the consequences of the robbery on television.
US star moved to tears by perpetrator's apology
Kardashian struggles with her emotions and takes out a handkerchief to wipe away tears. She has always been in favor of giving people a second chance, says the US star. "I appreciate this letter, I forgive them." She also emphasizes that the apology does not undo all that she and her family have suffered. The now deaf-mute defendant then writes a reply, which the judge reads out: "This forgiveness is a sun for me that will enlighten me."
