Kim Kardashian thought she was going to die during a violent robbery at a luxury hotel suite in Paris in 2016.
“I absolutely thought that I was going to die,” the reality TV star and entrepreneur said Tuesday in a Paris courtroom, where a trial is underway for 10 people accused in connection with the violent robbery of millions of dollars’ worth of her jewelry.
Kardashian testified mid-afternoon, giving her version of the incident, which allegedly saw her tied up and held at gunpoint in a luxury hotel suite during Paris fashion week in 2016.
Nine men and one woman are accused in connection with the robbery, during which five masked men posing as police officers allegedly stormed into Kardashian’s hotel suite.
The suspects allegedly made off with valuables worth at least $6 million, including a diamond engagement ring given to Kardashian by her then-husband, Kanye West. That ring alone was said to be worth about $4 million.
The trial, which began last month, has been a spectacle in the French media, where the defendants are collectively referred to as the “grandpa robbers” — or “les papys braqueurs” — because many of them are over 60.
The defendants are charged with several counts, the main one for most of them being armed robbery in an organized gang. Some are also charged with kidnapping.
Kardashian’s testimony followed that of Simone Harouche, a stylist and Kim’s childhood friend. She told the court earlier on Tuesday about the shock and trauma of waking up during the robbery.
Harouche described the scene, saying she saw Kardashian coming down the hotel suite’s stairs with tape on her feet. She said Kardashian was screaming that they might have to jump out the window to escape the burglars. Harouche said she could hear “terror” in Kardashian’s voice.
“It was a sound I never heard from Kim,” Harouche told the court. “It was terror. I remember specifically she said, ‘I have babies and I need to live. Take everything. I need to live.'”
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