PARIS (AP) — Defiant in diamonds, Kim Kardashian appeared in a Paris courtroom Tuesday to testify within the trial over the 2016 armed theft that upended her life. The truth star and enterprise mogul gave emotional, at instances harrowing, testimony concerning the night time masked males tied her up at gunpoint and stole greater than $6 million in jewellery.
Right here’s what she revealed — and what’s nonetheless to come back.
An evening that modified the whole lot
Kardashian mentioned she was beginning to nod off in mattress within the early hours when she heard stomping on the steps. She assumed it was her sister Kourtney getting back from an evening out. “Hello? Hello? Who is it?” she known as.
Moments later, two masked males burst in. They dragged the concierge in handcuffs. They had been dressed as police.
“I thought it was some sort of terrorist attack,” she mentioned.
She grabbed her telephone however froze — “I didn’t know what 911 was (in France).” She tried to name her sister and her bodyguard, however one man grabbed her hand to cease her. They threw her on the mattress, sure her arms and held a gun to her again.
“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 gown fell open — she mentioned she was bare beneath — as one man pulled her towards him. “I was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me,” Kardashian mentioned.
One attacker leaned in and instructed her, in English, she’d be OK if she stayed quiet. He taped her mouth shut, and took her to the toilet.
Kardashian later managed to free her arms by rubbing the tape in opposition to the toilet sink. She hopped downstairs, ankles nonetheless sure, and located her buddy and stylist, Simone Harouche. Fearing the boys may return, the ladies climbed onto the balcony and hid in bushes. Whereas mendacity there, Kardashian known as her mom.
The lads took a diamond ring she’d worn that night time to a Givenchy present and rifled by way of her jewellery field. They took objects together with a watch her late father had given her when she graduated highschool. “It wasn’t just jewelry. It was so many memories,” she mentioned.
A modified life and fixed concern
Investigators imagine the attackers adopted Kardashian’s digital breadcrumbs — photographs, timestamps, geotags — and exploited them with old-school felony strategies.
The theft reshaped Kardashian’s sense of security and freedom. “This experience really changed everything for us,” she mentioned. “I started to get this phobia of going out.”
She usually rents adjoining resort rooms for defense and now not shops jewellery at house, and now has as much as six safety guards at house.
“I can’t even sleep at night time” in any other case, she mentioned.
She additionally mentioned she now not makes social media posts in actual time until at a public occasion. Her Los Angeles house was robbed shortly after the Paris heist in what she believes was a copycat assault.
A letter and an surprising second of grace
In a strong courtroom second, the chief decide learn aloud a letter from one of many accused, who is just too unwell to testify. The letter mentioned he had seen Kardashian’s tears on tv and expressed remorse. Kardashian was visibly moved.
“I’m obviously emotional,” she mentioned 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’s learning to change into a lawyer, added that she often visits prisons. “I’ve always believed in second chances,” she mentioned.
Diamonds, defiance and public picture
Kardashian made a trend assertion in court docket, carrying a $1.5 million necklace by Samer Halimeh New York. The jeweler’s press launch for the necklace got here out at the same time as she was on the witness stand, a reminder that visibility stays forex, even when the principles have grown extra sophisticated.
The selection mirrored defiance and the reclaiming of the picture and luxurious as soon as used in opposition to her.
Kardashian mentioned Paris had as soon as been a sanctuary, a spot the place she would stroll at 3 or 4 a.m., window buying, generally stopping for decent chocolate. It “always felt really safe,” she mentioned. “It was always a magical place.”
What’s subsequent
Twelve suspects had been initially charged. One has died. One was excused because of sickness. The French press dubbed the group les papys braqueurs — “the grandpa robbers” — however prosecutors say they had been no innocent retirees.
The defendants face costs together with armed theft, kidnapping and gang affiliation. If convicted, they might face life in jail.
Kardashian mentioned she was grateful for the chance to “inform my fact” within the packed Paris courtroom.
“This is my closure,” she mentioned. “This is me putting this, hopefully, to rest.”
The trial is predicted to conclude Might 23.
