Kim Kardashian thought she was being kidnapped by terrorists during the armed robbery in Paris in October in which thieves made off with jewels valued at $5 million.
The revelation is contained in a transcript of a hearing of the reality star conducted by a French investigating judge in New York on Feb. 2 and published by French daily Le Monde this weekend.
Kardashian, flanked by her two Parisian lawyers, gave testimony for a full day as part of the ongoing investigation into the armed robbery that took place at the No Address residence in central Paris on the morning of Oct. 3, the paper said.
In the transcript obtained by Le Monde, Kardashian described her emotions upon seeing two intruders dressed in police uniforms arrive unannounced to her hotel room at around 3 a.m. with the residence’s night watchman.
“I thought they were terrorists who had come to kidnap me,” she testified. “I remember that I had an indescribable feeling, as if my heart would leave my body. I thought that I was going to die.”
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Kardashian had previously given a detailed account of the events of the night to French police, before leaving the country in a private jet hours after the attack.
“I turned towards the caretaker to ask him if we were going to die and to tell them not to kill us (…). The caretaker told me to ‘Shut up,’ and be quiet. He said he didn’t know what was going to happen to us and that he also had children and that I should stop talking,” she said in her New York deposition.
Kardashian, who was naked under her bathrobe at the time, was bound and gagged by one of the attackers. “I was convinced he was going to rape me,” she said.
The star revealed that she had concerns about the trip before leaving for Paris.
“For two weeks before we left we were already afraid we might be victims of a terrorist attack if we left the country, and not only by going to Paris,” she was reported as saying. “I had this foreboding. I want to tell you this because it was such a strong feeling: Every night in Paris I said a prayer of thanks that nothing had happened to us.”
She added that she was convinced the robbery was an inside job, adding that her suspicions centered on Michael Madar, her driver for the last four years, and his brother Gary. “A few weeks before our arrival, they sent an SMS text message to my assistant, Stephanie S., offering a free transport service, which they had never done before (…). I found that strange,” she said.
Gary Madar is one of 10 people who have been charged in connection with the robbery. “I felt relieved and very proud of the French legal system,” Kardashian said. “All the same, it did not give me a feeling of security and this experience made me aware that the world was no longer a safe place.”
Kardashian said she did not wish to return to Paris, the city where she and her husband, rapper Kanye West, threw a lavish prewedding bash in 2014 at the Chateau de Versailles.
“I have a feeling that it’s not the right place for me, I mean Paris. It’s not a place for me on the emotional plane,” she reportedly told judge Armelle Briand.
Prior to the attack, Kardashian frequently posed with expensive baubles, including her $4 million Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring, for her more than 95 million followers on Instagram. Her attitude has now changed.
“I think that my perception of jewelry now is that I am not as attached to it as I used to be. I don’t have the same feeling about it. In fact, I even think that it has become a bit of a burden to have the responsibility of such expensive jewels (…). There is nothing of sentimental value to compare with the act of going home and finding one’s children and one’s family,” she said.
