Kim Kardashian will testify in person at an upcoming trial over the 2016 robbery in Paris that left her bound, gagged and begging for her life, her lawyer revealed Tuesday.
“We can confirm that Ms. Kardashian will be testifying in person at the upcoming French criminal trial involving the 2016 incident in which she was bound and robbed at gunpoint by a number of masked assailants,” her attorney Michael Rhodes told The Associated Press.
He added that the reality star has “tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system” and hopes for the trial to “proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case.”
French news agency AFP reports that Kardashian will take the stand on May 13 in a trial that’s set to run from April 28 to May 23, according to a provisional schedule.
A representative listed for Kardashian did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Twelve people allegedly involved in the Paris heist were originally charged in the robbery, but 10 are slated to stand trial for armed robbery, kidnapping and other criminal charges, the AP reports.
One man who confessed to participating in the robbery published a book in 2021 detailing what happened in the heist, but a French court mandated shortly after the book’s publication that he may not benefit financially in any way from its sales.
Kardashian was robbed of around $10 million in jewelry in October 2016 while she was staying in an apartment for Paris Fashion Week. She says five people entered the residence where she was staying, held a gun to her head, bound her wrists and legs with zip ties, wrapped her face and eyes in duct tape and placed her in a bathtub while they robbed the apartment.
Kardashian said she begged for her life and “mentally prepped myself” for the thieves to sexually assault or kill her, though she was ultimately left physically unharmed.
We Don't Work For Billionaires. We Work For You.
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
During appearances on her family’s Hulu reality show “The Kardashians,” she’s discussed the lasting trauma from the incident and the ways it has impacted how she moves through the world.
“I mean, imagine you’re like, gun to your head, getting tied up, dragged across a hotel room, and the guy, I remember him telling me, ‘Just like, stay calm, and you’ll live.’ And I did that,” Kardashian recalled in an episode that aired last year.
“[It] served me well at that time, and I think it saved my life,” she continued. “But I think I’ve let it get too calm to where people could take advantage of my calmness or I’m just turning into a full robot with like, no emotion.”