PARIS — Kim Kardashian’s longtime friend and former stylist told a Paris courtroom Tuesday that she heard the reality star sobbing and begging for her life during the 2016 hotel-room robbery that left Kardashian bound, held at gunpoint, and traumatized for years to come.
Simone Harouche, who shared the two-story hotel suite with Kardashian during Paris Fashion Week, recounted the terrifying moments from the night masked assailants stormed their residence and stole more than $6 million worth of jewelry. “She kept screaming, ‘I have babies and I need to live. Take everything. I need to live,’” Harouche told the court. “I was scared she had been raped or violated. I feared the worst.”
Kardashian, one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world, is scheduled to testify later Tuesday in what is expected to be the most emotionally charged moment of the trial. She will confront 10 men accused of orchestrating the robbery that marked a turning point in her life — and in the public’s understanding of celebrity vulnerability in the digital age.
The October 2016 robbery, which occurred inside a private luxury residence while Kardashian was alone in her room, remains one of France’s most notorious crimes against a foreign celebrity. The suspects, many now in their 60s and 70s and dubbed by local media as les papys braqueurs — or “the grandpa robbers” — have been described by investigators as a seasoned and coordinated criminal group. Though two of the defendants admitted to being at the scene, the rest deny involvement, with some claiming they didn’t even know who Kardashian was.
Police maintain that the group tracked Kardashian’s movements through her own social media posts, which flaunted her high-end jewelry, pinpointed her location, and left her vulnerable to attack.
In her testimony, Harouche said the robbery had left Kardashian with profound emotional scars. “She now lives a completely different life. She doesn’t go anywhere alone,” Harouche said. “Losing your sense of freedom like that… it’s horrible.”
Harouche also pushed back against suggestions that Kardashian’s visible display of wealth made her complicit in the robbery. When lead judge David De Pas asked whether the star had turned herself into a target by sharing images of her lavish lifestyle online, Harouche firmly replied: “No. Just because a woman wears jewelry, that doesn’t make her a target. That’s like saying a woman in a short skirt deserves to be raped.”
The trauma extended beyond Kardashian. Harouche, who had locked herself in a bathroom during the heist, said the experience forced her to step away from her work in celebrity styling. “I didn’t want to travel with them anymore. That experience was very stressful for me,” she testified, adding that she later sought therapy for PTSD and shifted her career to interior design.
Kardashian’s upcoming courtroom appearance will revisit harrowing details: how the robbers zip-tied her hands, demanded her ring, and locked her in a marble bathroom. At the time, she feared she would never see her children again.
Following the incident, Kardashian withdrew from the public eye, struggled with severe anxiety, and later revealed symptoms of agoraphobia. “I hated to go out,” she said in a 2021 interview. “I didn’t want anybody to know where I was … I just had such anxiety.”
Her lawyers said Kardashian is fully prepared to appear in court, expressing her gratitude to French authorities and her commitment to justice. “She has tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system,” her attorneys said in a statement, adding that she hopes the trial proceeds “with dignity and respect for all parties.”
The heist not only reshaped Kardashian’s personal life but also redefined the discussion around celebrity exposure and personal safety in an age dominated by social media visibility. Her testimony is expected to underscore those risks — and close a painful chapter that has haunted her for nearly a decade.
AP
