Kim Kardashian's stylist details 'terror' on night of Paris robbery
Kim Kardashian's stylist has told a court of the terror they both felt during a multi-million dollar jewellery robbery in Paris in 2016, with the star screaming "I have babies" and "I have to live".
The billionaire celebrity is set to testify later on Tuesday, local time, at the trial of the so-called "grandpa gang" accused of robbing her at gunpoint in her hotel room.
Stylist Simone Harouche told a Paris court the attack had been "traumatising".
The suspects are accused of tying up Kardashian with zip ties and duct tape before fleeing with jewels worth millions of dollars.
They included a $4 million engagement ring given to her by her then-husband rapper Kanye West, according to investigators.
Ms Harouche, who was asleep in the same luxury hotel flat at the time of the attack, spoke to the court ahead of Kardashian's testimony.
"'I have babies, and I have to live' — that's what I heard her say. 'Take everything — I need to live'," Ms Harouche told the court.
Ms Harouche was downstairs in the duplex flat at the time of the attack, while Kardashian was upstairs.
"We've been friends since we were little girls," she told the court.
"So when I heard this sound, it was very different, and it woke me up, because it was a sound that I had never heard from Kim.
The stylist rushed to lock herself in the bathroom and texted Kardashian's sister Kourtney and their bodyguard for help.
Ms Harouche said when the robbers left, Kardashian joined her downstairs.
"She was beside herself, I've never seen her like that before," she said.
"She just was screaming and kept saying we need to get out of here, we need help, what are we going to do if they come back."
Ms Harouche cried at times during her testimony and said she had changed careers and sought therapy because of the robbery.
She said the incident caused her post-traumatic stress and made her fearful of being around celebrities.
In 2020, Kardashian told US talk show host David Letterman about the heist in an interview, fighting back tears as she recalled her fears of being raped that night.
"I kept looking at the concierge," she said, referring to the hotel's concierge who had been forced at gunpoint to lead the gang to her apartment.
"I was like, 'Are we gonna die? Just tell them I have children, I have babies ... I have to get home'."
The 10 suspects who are standing trial — nine men and one woman — have been dubbed "the grandpa gang", with many in their late 60s or 70s.
One of the accused, 71-year-old Yunice Abbas, told French media he and his other accomplices did not know who Kardashian was.
Five of the suspects — all men — face armed robbery and kidnapping charges and potentially risk being sentenced to life imprisonment.
The others are charged with complicity in the heist or the unauthorised possession of a weapon.
Most of the jewels, including the $4 million engagement ring, were never found.
Reuters
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