Home World With tears and defiance, Kim Kardashian faces the men accused of robbing...

With tears and defiance, Kim Kardashian faces the men accused of robbing her in Paris

Kim Kardashian waves as she arrives Tuesday to testify regarding a robbery of millions of dollars in jewels from her Paris hotel room in 2016.

Kim Kardashian waves as she arrives Tuesday to testify regarding a robbery of millions of dollars in jewels from her Paris hotel room in 2016. Aurelien Morissard/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Aurelien Morissard/AP

Defiant in diamonds, Kim Kardashian appeared in a Paris courtroom Tuesday to testify in the trial over the 2016 armed robbery that upended her life. The reality star and business mogul gave emotional, at times harrowing, testimony about the night masked men tied her up at gunpoint and stole more than $6 million in jewelry.

Here’s what she revealed — and what’s still to come.

A night that changed everything

Kardashian said she was starting to doze off in bed in the early hours when she heard stomping on the stairs. She assumed it was her sister Kourtney returning from a night out. “Hello? Hello? Who is it?” she called.

Sponsor Message

Moments later, two masked men burst in. They dragged the concierge in handcuffs. They were dressed as police.

“I thought it was some sort of terrorist attack,” she said.

She grabbed her phone but froze — “I didn’t know what 911 was (in France).” She tried to call her sister and her bodyguard, but one man grabbed her hand to stop her. They threw her on the bed, bound her hands and held a gun to her back.

“I have babies,” she recalled telling the robbers. “I have to make it home. They can take everything. I just have to make it home.”

Her robe fell open — she said she was naked underneath — as one man pulled her toward him. “I was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me,” Kardashian said.

One attacker leaned in and told her, in English, she’d be OK if she stayed quiet. He taped her mouth shut, and took her to the bathroom.

Kardashian later managed to free her hands by rubbing the tape against the bathroom sink. She hopped downstairs, ankles still bound, and found her friend and stylist, Simone Harouche. Fearing the men might return, the women climbed onto the balcony and hid in bushes. While lying there, Kardashian called her mother.

Sponsor Message

The men took a diamond ring she’d worn that night to a Givenchy show and rifled through her jewelry box. They took items including a watch her late father had given her when she graduated high school. “It wasn’t just jewelry. It was so many memories,” she said.

A changed life and constant fear

Investigators believe the attackers followed Kardashian’s digital breadcrumbs — images, timestamps, geotags — and exploited them with old-school criminal methods.

The robbery reshaped Kardashian’s sense of safety and freedom. “This experience really changed everything for us,” she said. “I started to get this phobia of going out.”

She often rents adjoining hotel rooms for protection and no longer stores jewelry at home, and now has up to six security guards at home.

“I can’t even sleep at night” otherwise, she said.

She also said she no longer makes social media posts in real time unless at a public event. Her Los Angeles home was robbed shortly after the Paris heist in what she believes was a copycat attack.

In this artist sketch, Kim Kardashian testifies Tuesday regarding a robbery of millions of dollars in jewels from her Paris hotel room in 2016, in Paris.

In this artist sketch, Kim Kardashian testifies Tuesday regarding a robbery of millions of dollars in jewels from her Paris hotel room in 2016, in Paris. Valentin Pasquier/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Valentin Pasquier/AP

A letter and an unexpected moment of grace

In a powerful courtroom moment, the chief judge read aloud a letter from one of the accused, who is too ill to testify. The letter said he had seen Kardashian’s tears on television and expressed regret. Kardashian was visibly moved.

“I’m obviously emotional,” she said in response.

“I do appreciate the letter, for sure,” she added. “I forgive you for what had taken place. But it doesn’t change the emotion, the trauma, and the way my life is forever changed.”

Kardashian, who is studying to become a lawyer, added that she regularly visits prisons. “I’ve always believed in second chances,” she said.

Diamonds, defiance and public image

Kardashian made a fashion statement in court, wearing a $1.5 million necklace by Samer Halimeh New York. The jeweler’s press release for the necklace came out even as she was on the witness stand, a reminder that visibility remains currency, even if the rules have grown more complicated.

The choice reflected defiance and the reclaiming of the image and luxury once used against her.

Sponsor Message

Kardashian said Paris had once been a sanctuary, a place where she would walk at 3 or 4 a.m., window shopping, sometimes stopping for hot chocolate. It “always felt really safe,” she said. “It was always a magical place.”

What’s next

Twelve suspects were originally charged. One has died. One was excused due to illness. The French press dubbed the group les papys braqueurs — “the grandpa robbers” — but prosecutors say they were no harmless retirees.

The defendants face charges including armed robbery, kidnapping and gang association. If convicted, they could face life in prison.

Kardashian said she was grateful for the opportunity to “tell my truth” in the packed Paris courtroom.

“This is my closure,” she said. “This is me putting this, hopefully, to rest.”

The trial is expected to conclude May 23.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Must Read

Trump says it may be better to let Ukraine and Russia ‘fight for a while’

President Donald Trump, right, meets Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption toggle caption Evan Vucci/AP WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace

Smoke knows no boundaries: What Canada’s fires mean for the U.S. in the future

A sign warns of an air quality alert as smoke from wildfires burning in Canada reaches Minneapolis on Tuesday. Mark Vancleave/AP hide caption toggle caption Mark Vancleave/AP Paige Fischer was driving to the picturesque Traverse City region along Lake Michigan for a family vacation. But even as she was leaving her home in Ann Arbor

British doctor says many he treated in Gaza were civilians shot trying to reach aid

Palestinians carry bags filled with food and humanitarian aid provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, June 3. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP hide caption toggle caption Abdel Kareem Hana/AP British orthopedic surgeon Dr. Graeme Groom has spent the past three weeks in Gaza

From 1,300 to 81 workers: Trump official plans to cut Voice of America to the bone

Trump senior adviser Kari Lake is overseeing the downsizing of Voice of America and other government-funded international news outlets. Here, she speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, on Feb. 21, 2025. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption toggle caption Jose Luis Magana/AP At times, President Trump's senior adviser Kari Lake has said she wants

World Reaction to the Latest U.S. Travel Ban

Enlarge this image President Trump announced a new travel ban on 12 countries. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption toggle caption Evan Vucci/AP President Trump announced a new travel ban on 12 countries. Evan Vucci/AP President Donald Trump has issued a new travel ban, barring travelers from 12 countries and partially restricting travelers from seven others from