Kim Kardashian’s trial pertaining to an armed robbery during Paris Fashion Week in 2016 is underway.
In courtroom testimony on May 13, the reality television star and her close friend, Simone Harouche, revealed details about the harrowing incident.
The courtroom has not allowed any photos or audio recordings during the trial, which began April 28.
During her testimony at the Palais de Justice, Harouche, Kardashian’s former stylist who now works as an interior designer, explained that she traveled with the Skims co-founder to the City of Light in 2016 to style and dress her for multiple events during Paris Fashion Week.
Kardashian’s former stylist recalled that after a busy day, she and the Skims founder returned to their hotel and some friends visited. Harouche fell asleep as the friends chatted in another room.
“Then it was quiet for an hour or two and then I woke to a very different sound,” she shared.
Harouche, who has been friends with Kardashian since they were children, said when she awoke in the early hours of the morning she heard an unfamiliar sound in the mogul’s voice: “terror.”
Harouche was staying in a room downstairs from Kardashian’s.
She said Kardashian pleaded, “‘I have babies and I need to live’” and “‘Take everything, I need to live,’” from the other room.
Harouche feared for their lives and started to search for her phone as she listened through the door. “I heard rumbling, loud noises, men were screaming, they were loud and Kim was still screaming with terror in her voice,” she testified.
The former stylist ran into the bathroom, locked the door and hid in the shower before texting Kourtney Kardashian Barker. She also alerted their bodyguard that something was wrong.
Minutes later, Kardashian called out to Harouche and asked, “Are they gone?” She remembered hearing the mother of four hop down the stairs before she entered the room with tape around her feet.
“I had never seen her like that before,” Harouche said. Kardashian quickly started suggesting how they could escape in case the robbers returned.
The former stylist said the two were both “in shock from trauma.” After a few hours, the police arrived and Harouche provided a statement.
As she continued testifying, Harouche shared the lasting effects the robbery had on Kardashian.
“I think that this moment changed her life forever,” the former stylist said. “I think for her the loss of freedom … she now has a completely different lifestyle.”
Harouche said the robbery affected her, too: She has since quit her job because she feared working with celebrities.
“I went to therapy for post traumatic stress and still to this day I am very sensitive to loud noise,” she said.
Kardashian also testified on May 13. She was seated next to Harouche and mom Kris Jenner in the courtroom, NBC’s Gabrielle Nolin reported.
The 44-year-old entrepreneur was emotional during her testimony as she recalled being bound and gagged while the robbers left with millions worth of jewelry.
“That trip, it really changed everything,” she said.
She later added, “I absolutely thought I was going to die.”
Kardashian also confirmed that her level of security has changed since the incident.
“At home I have between four and six night security at home just for me to feel safe,” she explained.
Prosecutors have connected nine men and one woman to the robbery, NBC News reported. One of those men is Yunice Abbas, who penned a book in 2021 titled, “I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian.”
Abbas’ defense attorney, Gabriel Dumenil, told NBC News, “To be clear, it’s been nine years. He regrets what he did.”
The accused are facing charges that include kidnapping, armed robbery in an organized gang and unauthorized possession of weapons, according to information the Paris Court of Appeal shared with reporters.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
