Nearly nine years have passed since Kim Kardashian was allegedly attacked and held at gunpoint in her Paris hotel room while intruders stole millions of dollars worth of jewelry. Now, the SKIMS founder is set to face the alleged gunmen during her testimony in a Paris courtroom on Tuesday. 

While in court on Tuesday, Kardashian, 44, said the robbery marked what she thought would be the last day of her life.

The robbery occurred in October 2016 during Paris Fashion Week, when Kardashian was staying in a private luxury residence. In the early hours of the morning, a group of masked men dressed as police officers stormed into her suite. She recounted to the court how she awoke to the sound of footsteps and suddenly realized strangers had entered her bedroom.

At gunpoint, she was ordered to hand over her engagement ring and other valuable jewelry, worth millions of dollars. The reality star described how her initial shock quickly gave way to sheer terror as she was pulled from her bed and restrained.

Kardashian explained that the intruders tied her wrists with plastic zip-ties, gagged her mouth, and dragged her into the bathroom. The ordeal, she said, was filled with moments when she was certain she was about to be killed.

“I absolutely thought I was going to die,” she testified, her voice shaking as she recalled lying on the floor, believing she would never escape. She admitted she had said a silent prayer, asking God to let her return to her family. The thought of her children, who were then very young, weighed most heavily on her mind in those moments.

“I was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me,” she said during her testimony on Tuesday. “I absolutely did think I was going to die.”

Kardashian, who thanked the French authorities for “allowing me to share my truth,” told the court she recalled screaming to the robbers at the time of the intrusion, “I have babies.”

Kim Kardashian was photographed arriving at the Paris courthouse on May 13 wearing an all-black ensemble. Her mom, Kris Jenner, was also in attendance.  (Aurelien Morissard/AP Photo)

“[Kim] has tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system and has been treated with great respect by the French authorities,” Kardashian’s attorney, Michael Rhodes, said in a statement to Fox News Digital ahead of the trial. “She wishes for the trial to proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case.”

The mom of four, who was accompanied by her mom Kris Jenner on Tuesday, is testifying against a group known as the “grandpa robbers” due to their age. More than 17 people were arrested as suspects in connection to the case after investigators found trace amounts of DNA on plastic bands tied around Kardashian’s wrists. The case was finally ordered to go on trial in 2021 with 12 people charged.

Kardashian’s mom, with lawyer Michael Rhodes, accompanied her daughter as they entered the courthouse. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through in my entire life.”

— Kim Kardashian

Ten people are being tried, with five facing armed robbery and kidnapping charges. The other suspects are charged with being accomplices to the heist or unauthorized possession of a weapon, according to Reuters.

“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through in my entire life,” Kardashian said during an episode of “Felony Files” in 2019. “Just thinking that, you know, you’re about to die. … You’re bracing yourself for the moment they’re going to shoot you and kill you. That 10 minutes really changed my whole life. ”

The SKIMS founder is set to testify against her alleged attacker on May 13 in a Paris courtroom. (NINO/GC Images)

On Oct. 3, 2016, the intruders allegedly disguised themselves as police officers with ski masks as they broke into her room at the No Address Hotel, tied up the reality star and placed her in the bathtub while they stole various jewelry pieces, including her $4 million engagement ring from then-husband Kanye West.

Kardashian, who was in town for Fashion Week with her sisters, Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner, and mother Kris Jenner, had posted on social media that she was home alone while her family went out to explore Paris.

“I was Snapchatting that I was home and that everyone was going out,” Kim said on a 2017 episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”

While lying in bed, Kardashian heard footsteps approaching her door and, after calling out for her sisters, she realized something was wrong.

Kim Kardashian has opened up about the “scariest” thing to happen to her. (YouTube)

“Then at that moment when there wasn’t an answer, my heart started to get really tense,” Kardashian said in a confessional during the episode. “Like your stomach just kind of knots up, and you’re like, ‘OK, what’s going on? What’s going on?’ I knew something wasn’t quite right.’”

“They dragged me out onto the hallway on top of the stairs. That’s when I saw the gun clear, like clear as day. I was kind of looking at the gun, looking down back at the stairs.”

What made her account even more chilling was her description of the intruders’ behavior. Kardashian said she believed at one point she might be raped, as one of the men pulled at her robe before pushing her down. Another pressed a gun into her back. Her pleas to the robbers reflected her desperation: she begged them to let her live, telling them she was a mother and needed to see her babies again. She also remembered panicking at the thought that her sister, who was staying in the same residence, might walk in and discover her dead.

Though physically she was not beaten, the emotional impact was devastating. Kardashian described the paralyzing fear of being left tied up in the bathroom, unsure whether the gunmen would return. She eventually managed to wriggle free and hop, hands still bound, to seek help from her stylist. The vulnerability of that moment — stripped of her security team, surrounded by strangers in what was supposed to be one of the safest cities in the world — left her permanently changed.

“Am I going to run down the stairs and either be shot in the back? It makes me so upset to think about it,” she said. “Either they’re going to shoot me in the back, or if I make it, and they don’t, if the elevator does not open in time, or the stairs are locked, then like I’m f—-d. There’s no way out.”

During an appearance on “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” with David Letterman in 2020, Kardashian said she mentally “prepared” herself for the worst.

Kardashian told David Letterman she had to mentally “prepare” herself for the worst during the alleged attacks. (Getty Images)

“He grabbed me and pulled me towards him,” Kardashian said of her attacker. “But I wasn’t wearing anything underneath [my robe], so I was like, ‘OK, this is the time, I’m going to get raped, like, just deal, it’s going to happen, like, just prepare yourself.’ So I did, and then – I don’t know why I’m crying, I’ve talked about this before – but then he tied me up with handcuffs and zip ties, and then duct tape, and then duct-taped my mouth and my eyes.”

“You know, [the robbery has] changed the way we live our lives and just the way we take care of our kids and our grandchildren. So it’s been a process.”

— Kris Jenner

The defense attempted to minimize her trauma by emphasizing that she was not physically assaulted beyond being restrained. Yet Kardashian’s words underscored the profound psychological harm that comes from believing your life is about to end. For her, the robbery was not just about stolen diamonds but about the lasting fear, nightmares, and hyper-vigilance that followed. It was also about the way the crime reverberated across her family, as her children later came to understand how close they came to losing their mother.

Observers in court noted how composed yet emotional Kardashian remained throughout her testimony. She relived moments that few could imagine while under the scrutiny of the press and the weight of legal proceedings. Her willingness to take the stand not only provided crucial evidence in the case but also reminded the world that celebrities, no matter how wealthy or protected, can fall victim to violence and trauma. The image of Kardashian as a glamorous, untouchable reality star was replaced by that of a terrified woman fighting for her survival.

“I saw he found my whole jewelry box and held it up, like, ‘Aha!’ You know, like, ‘We got it.’ But I kept on looking at the concierge [who’d been forced to unlock her door at gunpoint] because I didn’t know who he was, and I’m like, ‘What is happening? Are we going to die? Just tell them I have children, I have babies, I have a husband, I have a family, like I have to get home! Tell them to take anything. I’ll never say I saw them, like, take everything!’”

The aftermath of the robbery was difficult, but talking about it proved to be “therapeutic” for Kardashian.

“When we started filming again and getting up and running, you know, obviously, Kim was around because we all practically live together on the street,” mom Kris Jenner told Ellen DeGeneres in 2017. “And we started filming and what was coming out of that was very therapeutic for her, I think, to just explain to us and walk us through.”

It took Kardashian nearly two years to return to Paris after the robbery. (Dimitrios Kambouris)

“She just thinks that it might bring some awareness,” she continued. “You know, it’s changed the way we live our lives and just the way we take care of our kids and our grandchildren. So it’s been a process.”

Kardashian didn’t return to Paris for nearly two years after the alleged attack.

“I have so many special memories in Paris,” she said during an episode of her show in 2018. “I hope that this trip will just be so good that I can start to remember all the magical things about Paris and why Kanye and I fell in love with it.”

In 2017, Kardashian told DeGeneres that she believes the robbery happened to “teach” her something.

“I know this sounds crazy, but I know that was meant to happen to me,” she told the daytime talk show host. “I am such a different person. … I really feel like things happen in your life to teach you things, and this was like – it was probably no secret, you see it on the show, us being flashy, I was definitely materialistic before. Not that there’s anything bad with having things and working hard to get those things, and I’m really proud of everyone around me that’s successful. But I’m so happy that my kids get this me and that this is how I’m raising my kids, because I just don’t care about that stuff anymore.”

Kim Kardashian returned to the public eye in a very different role than fans are accustomed to when she took the stand in Paris to testify in the trial of the men accused of orchestrating the 2016 armed robbery that left her bound, gagged, and fearing for her life. Known around the world for her reality television empire, beauty businesses, and celebrity status, Kardashian became the star witness in a case that reopened wounds from one of the most terrifying nights of her life. Her testimony was raw and emotional, as she revisited the moment she thought she would never see her children again.

The trial brought Kardashian face-to-face with some of the men accused of planning the heist. Among them was Aomar Aït Khedache, alleged to be one of the masterminds. He had previously sent Kardashian a letter of apology in 2017, admitting regret for the trauma she endured. In court, Kardashian addressed that note, saying, “I forgive you,” though she stressed that forgiveness did not erase what happened. She explained that while she believes in second chances and rehabilitation, the scars of that night remain with her every day.

Her testimony also shed light on how the robbery changed her life permanently. Kardashian revealed that she no longer travels with the same jewelry she once flaunted and that her sense of security has been completely altered. She described how she now travels with heavy security and avoids posting her location in real time on social media. For a public figure whose brand was built in part on constant sharing, the robbery forced a dramatic shift in how she balances fame with safety.

The trial itself has gripped international media because of its blend of celebrity, crime, and high-stakes drama. For France, the case represented one of the most infamous robberies in recent memory, tarnishing the image of Paris as a safe haven for wealthy tourists and fashion icons. For Kardashian, it became a defining personal event that shaped her public identity far beyond the entertainment industry. The woman who once captivated audiences with red carpet appearances and social media selfies revealed a vulnerability that resonated far more deeply.

By the time Kardashian left the courtroom, her testimony had not only advanced the legal process but also reminded people of the resilience she has developed in the years since. Her story was not simply about jewelry stolen at gunpoint; it was about facing the ultimate fear, about surviving trauma, and about rebuilding a life with new priorities. For someone who has spent years as one of the world’s most visible women, Kardashian’s ordeal in Paris underscored how fleeting security can be — and how strength often emerges from the darkest moments.