Kim Kardashian has forgiven one of the robbers who violently robbed her in 2016, during an emotional and revealing testimony in a Paris court on Tuesday.
The Californian media personality was left traumatised after she was tied up and gagged by a gang of burglars, as they stole millions of dollars worth of jewellery from the central Paris apartment where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week in 2016.
In the Palais de Justice, the judge read out a letter from defendant Aomar Ait Khedache written after his arrest in 2017, in which he apologised for the “pain” he caused Kardashian. Khedache admitted his involvement in the heist, but denies claims by French authorities that he played a leading role.
Kardashian had no knowledge of the letter until it was read out in court. "I do appreciate the letter, for sure, I do appreciate it," she said tearfully. “I forgive you, but it doesn’t change that – the feelings and the trauma and the way my life is forever changed”.
Earlier, Kardashian cried while telling the court how the ordeal “changed everything” as started giving evidence. She recalled fearing her sister Kourtney would find her “shot dead” on the bed in the apartment.
Eight of the ten defendants - who face charges including armed robbery, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy - deny any involvement in the case.
The Independent brings you live updates from inside the courtroom.
Key Points
- 'I forgive you', Kardashian tells defendant after letter read out
- Kardashian describes moment she thought she would be raped and killed
- Security guard wolf-whistles as Kardashian takes the stand
- Kardashian arrives at court with mother, Kris Jenner
- Kardashian's stylist recalls moments after robbery: 'I thought she had been raped'
- What has the trial heard so far?
Watch: Kim Kardashian says Covid lockdown revived her anxiety from Paris robbery
15:18
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Alex Croft
Kardashian has stayed calm over two hours of speaking
15:04
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the Palais de Justice:
It’s now been almost two hours since Kardashian took the stand, yet she’s retained the same calm demeanour for the duration.
She speaks clearly, her hands clasped on the lectern in front of her when she’s not speaking, but often gesticulating as she responds to continued questioning. Occasionally, she’s quite animated, almost demonstrating her account as she recalls harrowing details – a gun at her back, tape binding her wrists – from the night of October 3, 2016.
At the moment the chief judge is still leading questioning and proceedings, though at one point suspect Yunice Abbas, who wrote a book after the incident titled “I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian” stood up to speak while she was on the stand. As well as the timeline of the evening in question, Kardashian has been asked about how obvious her location might be in the first storey suite of Hotel de Poutalès – or No Address France as it’s known – and what she knows about the gang who attacked her.
When Kardashian first heard the intruders, she "thought it was Kourtney and Stephanie coming home drunk" – it wasn't until later that she began to see the extent of what was happening.
"Your emotions go in and out, in and out," she told court Voltaire earlier. "I thought maybe when he dropped me in the bathroom, someone had alerted him that someone was coming, or something.
"That’s when I realised there were more people; that they had a good system.”
Kardashian says she felt relieved in that moment that she didn’t try to run, in case she was confronted by more members of the gang waiting downstairs.
Court takes 15 minute break
14:48
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Alex Croft
The court has taken a 15 minute pause.
Stay here for all the latest updates once the court resumes sitting.
'I forgive you', Kardashian tells defendant after letter read out
14:43
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the Palais de Justice:
Kardashian thanked suspect Aomar Aït Khedache for a letter he wrote her – but says that it cannot change what happened that night.
"I do appreciate the letter, for sure, I do appreciate it," she said.
“I forgive you,” she adds, "but it doesn’t change that – the feelings and the trauma and the way my life is forever changed”.
It came after the judge read out a letter from Aomar Ait Khedache - one of the defendants who lead the group - which he wrote after his arrest in 2017. He apologised for the “pain” he had caused Kardashian. “I want to tell you human to human how I regret my actions and how I was touched to see you cry.”
Kardashian’s response to the letter has been influenced by the work she does back in the States, she tells the court, where she "works in the justice system … with people who have rehabilitated themselves.
She added: "I do also fight for victims who have been through horrific crimes and who just want to be heard and understood.”
Judge reads out letter in court from apologetic defendant
14:39
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Alex Croft
The judge has now read out a letter from Aomar Ait Khedache, who was suspected of being a ringleader in the robbery. Khedache previously admitted his involvement, but denied leading the group.
Kardashian had not heard about the letter before, but began crying as it was read out.
"Madame, after seeing you in a French TV show and seeing your emotion and realising what psychological harm I did to you, that I decided to write to you,” the letter read, according to the BBC.
"Not with the aim of getting forgiveness... I want to tell you human to human how I regret my actions and how I was touched to see you cry... I am sorry for the pain I caused you, your husband, you children and those who love you."
The letter added: "Of course you can't undo the past but I hope this letter will help you forget the trauma you endured because of me."
Kardashian: I was told I would be OK if I was quiet
14:22
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Alex Croft
Kim Kardashian has discussed in more detail her encounter with the suspects, revealing that she was told she would be OK if she “just shut up”.
"I only saw one (suspect) holding a weapon,” she told the court,
"I felt like, because the guy that tied me up saw how frantic I was and wouldn't get close to me - almost whispering: 'Shhh, are you okay? - I felt in that moment that he was (like) a father.
“I felt like he wanted me to know that I would be okay if I just shut up. And then they started arguing. I didn't know what they said, as it was in French, and then he went from 'Shh' to aggressively grabbing my legs - so I thought maybe I got it wrong."
She told the court she was “not hit” but instead was “grabbed, and dragged into the other room, and thrown onto the floor”.
Kardashian added: "(The gun) was pointed towards me to get me to go from room to room, and it was pointed toward me on the bed at the end."
Kardashian recalls hiding in the bushes and calling mother, Kris Jenner
14:04
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Alex Croft
Kim Kardashian’s emotional account of the violent robbery in early October 2016 has continued.
She has told the court of the moments after the robbers left, when she hid in the bushes and called her mother, Kris Jenner.
"When I got downstairs, Simone [Harouche, Kardashian’s stylist who testified this morning] let me know that she had called my sister Kourtney, and her and the security were on the way,” she said.
“We weren't sure at that point if they were going to come back. So, we ran on the balcony to hide in the bushes.
"I remember calling my mom from the bushes to let her know what happened. And then I think while we were waiting for my security, we were trying to come up with a plan, if we should jump from the window, as it was just a one-storey building."
I feared Kourtney would see me dead on the bed - Kardashian
14:02
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the Palais de Justice.
Kim Kardashian says she feared her sister Kourtney Kardashian, who was out at the time with the family’s security guard, would find her dead on the bed.
"I thought about my sister, thought she would walk in and see me shot dead and have that memory in her forever."
She said a prayer that her sister would "have an OK life" after discovering her body.
"Then I waited a few minutes. After a few minutes I didn’t hear anything, so I scootched over to the sink, and it was a marble sink so I cut my ties."
Kardashian ignoring the defendants sat just metres away
13:56
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Alex Croft
Kim Kardashian is sitting barely two metres away from Aomar Ait Khedache - the man accused of being the ringleader of the gang, who is deaf and mute.
Khedache, who admits playing a role in the heist including tying Kardashian up, allegedly also held a gun in Kardashian’s face.
Yunice Abbas, the 71-year-old who has spoken openly in French media about his role in the robbery - and even written a memoir about it - is sat right behind her.
According to a BBC reporter in the room, Kardashian has not looked at either of the defendants once, staring straight at the judges instead.
Pictured: Court sketch of Kardashian's friend and stylist Simone Harouche
13:43
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Alex Croft
Kardashian: I thought I was going to die - now I can't sleep at night
13:30
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the Palais de Justice.
Kim Kardashian has said she “absolutely did think” she was going to die when she was thrown onto the bed by two men dressed in police uniforms.
She now “can’t sleep at night” without “multiple security” personnel to protect her.
"I need between four and six night security for me to feel safe," she tells the court.
Kardashian describes moment she thought she would be raped and killed
13:28
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the Palais de Justice.
After two men had burst into her Paris apartment along with the handcuffed concierge, Kim Kardashian says she became “pretty hysterical”.
They took her through the apartment to search for her jewellery.
Kardashian begins to cry as she explains what happened next. "So they called me back in the room once they realised that they had everything that I had and they threw me on the bed."
She says she then began desperately pleading with the handcuffed concierge – the only person she knew spoke English. "I said, 'I have babies, please translate to them, I have babies please, I have to make it home, they can take everything I just have to make it home'."
Kardashian tells the court that "said a prayer to prepare myself" as she was certain that she was about to be raped by one of the men. "He grabs my legs and pulls me towards him on the bed, and I'm naked under my robe.
"The robe opens up and everything is exposed on my bottom half," she says. "I was certain that was the moment he was going to rape me.I was on the bed and the other one had the gun up to me and at that point I was certain that was when they were going to shoot me, and it was over.”
Kardashian begins recounting the ordeal
13:04
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Alex Croft
Kardashian has began sharing details of the ordeal she went through in early October 2016.
"We were leaving the next morning and I was just packing up, at 3am I was just getting ready to go to bed,” she says.
Two people who she believed were police officers then came into her bedroom, she tells the court.
Kardashian says she was “very confused” when they walked in because she was “just about to fall asleep”.
Naked and wearing only a robe, she was flustered when the intruders barged in.
The night receptionist, Abderrahmane Ouatiki, had been handcuffed and was with the two men. He told Kardashian he did not know what was happening, according to the BBC.
"I understand now how shocked he was and he was just a victim like myself and we were in this together," Kardashian added.
Pictured: Kardashian smiles and waves at cameras before entering courthouse
12:54
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Alex Croft
Tearful Kardashian says 2016 Paris trip 'changed everything'
12:48
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the courthouse:
Kim Kardashian has begun by speaking of Paris, the city where she is currently testifying - and which she was robbed in nearly nine years ago.
“Paris was always a place I loved so much,” she says. “I used to walk around the city when I woke up in the middle of the night, or early in the morning I’d take walks around the city, and always felt really safe.
“We would window shop and stop at little hotels for hot chocolate. It was a magical place.”
“Then when I came to fashion week that trip, it really changed everything.” She pauses to wipe her eyes, crying as she begins to describe her ordeal.
Security guard wolf-whistles as Kardashian takes the stand
12:47
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the courthouse:
The bell has rung, the judges have filed back in – and, at just after 1.30pm, Kim Kardashian has taken the stand in court Voltaire. She walked confidently up to the stand dressed in a smart black contoured jacket and what appears to be a diamond necklace and earrings. In the press room, one of the court security guards wolf-whistles.
“Hi, I’m Kim Kardashian,” she begins addressing the court. She thanks the court for allowing her to be here today, and “for allowing me to tell my truth”.
What are we likely to hear from Kim Kardashian?
12:41
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Alex Croft
Kim Kardashian is set to reveal all about the violent robbery she went through nearly nine years ago, during Paris Fashion Week in October 2016.
She has spoken openly since the horror episode, revealing that the Paris robbery made fundamental changes to her personality and her approach to the world. She fears she is turning into a “full robot with like, no emotion,” she said in an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians last year.
But never before has she been questioned in a courtroom about the traumatic night, with the world media reporting on each word she says.
She is likely to speak about how the trauma reshaped her life, in the most emotionally-charged of the high-profile case - which began in late April.
Kardashian will likely repeat to jurors what she has already revealed since the robbery: the fear of being raped and killed by the intruders and of never seeing her family again.
In pictures: Kim Kardashian's arrival in court
12:35
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Alex Croft
Kardashian arrives in court for testimony
12:28
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Alex Croft
Kim Kardashian has now arrived in court, ready to testify against the defendants of the Paris robbery trial.
Multiple large black vehicles pulled up to the Palais de Justice, where our special correspondent Zoe Beaty is reporting directly on the trial.
Dressed in all black with black sunglasses, Kardashian steps out of the vehicle and speaks with her mother, Kris Jenner, who is accompanying her.
Members of the press call out to Kardashian as she walks up the steps of the grand courthouse, appearing calm and unperturbed.
Cheers ring out as she turns around and waves before stepping through the tall doors.
Kim Kardashian on her way to court
12:25
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Alex Croft
Kim Kardashian is expected to arrive in court any moment now.
Police have congregated outside the courthouse and a motorcade with the global star is now on its way.
What was stolen from Kim Kardashian?
12:22
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Alex Croft
In police reports given to the French authorities at around 4:30am on the night of the robbery, Kim Kardashian listed the following items as having been stolen, according to Sky News:
What was stolen?
- Two diamond Cartier bracelets
- A gold and diamond Jacob necklace
- Diamond earrings by Lauren Schwartz
- Yanina earrings
- Three gold Jacob necklaces
- Little bracelets, jewels and rings
- A Lauren Schwartz diamond necklace
- A necklace with six little diamonds
- A necklace with Saint spelt out in diamonds
- A cross-shaped diamond-encrusted Jacob cross
- A yellow gold Rolex watch
- Two yellow gold rings
- An iPhone 6 and a BlackBerry
When will Kim Kardashian take the stand?
12:03
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Alex Croft
All eyes will turn to Kim Kardashian this afternoon for her testimony against the robbers.
It isn’t exactly clear what time she will arrive. The court is currently adjourned until 1:30pm French time (12:30pm UK time).
Kardashian is set to speak about the trauma that reshaped her life and redefined the risks of celebrity in the age of social media. Her appearance is expected to be the most emotionally charged moment of a trial that began last month.
Her testimony is expected to revisit, in painful detail, how intruders zip-tied her hands, demanded her ring, and left her believing she might never see her children again.
How the robbery was a wake-up call for Kardashian
11:44
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Alex Croft
Kim Kardashian, once mocked by some of the French press as a reality TV sideshow, is now at the centre of a case with deep cultural resonance.
The robbery forced her to consider how she lived, posted and protected herself. Her brand had been built on access, her life broadcast to millions. But that strategy had collapsed.
"I learned to be more private," she later said. "It's not worth the risk."
Ms Kardashian enhanced her security detail by hiring people with backgrounds in elite protective services, reportedly including former members of the U.S. Secret Service and CIA. She stopped posting her location in real time. Lavish gifts and jewelry all but vanished from her feed.
"I was definitely materialistic before — but I'm so happy that my kids get this me," she reflected on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2017.
Later, Kardashian acknowledged that constant sharing had made her a target.
"People were watching," she said. "They knew what I had. They knew where I was."
Recap: What did the court hear on Tuesday morning?
11:25
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Alex Croft
A significant day for the trial of ten people accused of the violent robbery of Kim Kardashian began with the testimony of her former stylist and old friend, Simone Harouche.
Here’s what she told us:
- Harouche was staying in a room downstairs from Kardashian when she heard the robbery taking place. She heard the megastar “screaming” and pleading with the robbers: “I have babies and I need to live, take everything, I need to live.”
- After the robbery Kardashian shouted out Harouche’s name and rushed downstairs. "She came into my room and she had tape around her. She was wearing a light robe with nothing underneath, it was all messed up. I thought she could have been raped or very violated,” Harouche recalled while being questioned by Kardashian’s lawyer.
- The robbery changed Kardashian’s life “forever” Harouche said. Her sense of freedom has now been stripped.
- Harouche says that both her and Kardashian have suffered lasting trauma after the robbery. “I’ve seen her through the death of family, I’ve seen her through divorce, I’ve seen her through difficult times. I’ve never seen her like this,” Harouche said of her old friend.
Court adjourned for 90 minutes
11:06
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Alex Croft
The court has now been adjourned for 90 minutes, until 1:30pm local time (12:30pm BST).
Stay with us for a recap of what we’ve heard so far and what to expect this afternoon.
Harouche defends Kardashian's use of social media before robbery
11:19
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the courthouse:
Harouche is questioned about Kardashian’s behaviour on social media leading up to the robbery on October 3, 2016 – this has been a major part of the narrative surrounding the case ever since. At the time, Kardashian was accused of creating a “blueprint from her own broadcast” since police allege that the group of suspects tracked her movements through her own social media posts.
Her friend tells the court that posting frequently is quite simply “part of Kim’s job and every celebrity’s”.
“I would dress her, and choose what she wears, sometimes I would help decide what she posts – but generally Kim decides what she posts”. Kardashian immediately stopped posting in real time after the incident; her ordeal changed the landscape for digital security in celebrity culture.
Finally, after almost two hours on the stand, Harouche steps down and the court now adjourns for lunch to reconvene at 1.30pm. Until then.
Watch: Live from court as Kim Kardashian testifies in Paris robbery trial
10:54
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Alex Croft
Harouche reveals lasting trauma after Kardashian robbery
10:33
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from court:
The ordeal left Harouche with lasting trauma that made her “fearful of being around celebrities” she tells the court. “After that I didn’t want to work with celebrities very much,” she says. “I didn’t want to travel with them anymore. I stopped working for a little bit and then I changed professions – now I do interior design.”
She says that she’s since had therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and remains very sensitive to loud noises. “I think, like I mentioned, hearing your friend in fear for her life and also not being able to do anything to help her and feeling powerless… I can’t…” she trails off, her voice slightly breaking with emotion.
She and Kim have been friends since they were 12-years-old. “We went to high school together; we grew up together,” Harouche tells the court. “I’ve seen her through the death of family, I’ve seen her through divorce, I’ve seen her through difficult times. I’ve never seen her like this.”
Robbery changed Kardashian's life forever, says Harouche
10:20
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Alex Croft
Harouche told the court that Kardashian’s life has been irreparably changed for the worse.
“I think that that moment changed her life forever,” she says. “I think that it changed for both of us, but I think particularly for her, her loss of freedom … she now has a completely different lifestyle.
“She can’t go – she doesn’t go – alone to places any more. To lose your sense of freedom is horrible.”
“I just want justice to be served," Harouche added.
The two men who admit involvement in the robbery
10:13
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Alex Croft
Yunice Abbas, who has admitted his part in the robbery and even wrote a memoir about it, told the court early on during the case of his “regrets”.
Abbas dropped a bag of jewellery after he fell while cycling from the scene, the court heard.
The 71-year-old told the court he had never spared a thought for the victims of his lifelong criminal activities, until hearing how Kim Kardashian had been traumatised by the 2016 robbery.
"This time I have regrets," he told the court according to the BBC. "Before I didn't… It opened my eyes. We just grabbed the lady's handbag, but I have discovered there's trauma behind it."
Aomar Ait Khedache - accused of being ringleader of the group, which is mostly composed of older men - was tracked down using DNA on a piece of duct tape and the cable ties used to bind Ms Kardashian.
He admitted to taking part in the heist and tying up Kardashian, but denied leading the group.
Because he is nearly deaf and mute, lawyers had to take up his questions and he had to write down his answers, according to NewsNation.
Harouche: Kim was 'very free' at the time of the robbery
09:50
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from court:
“Kim was very free at the time," Harouche, who is dressed in a black jacket and has shoulder-length blonde hair and speaks to the court via a translator, explains. "And we never thought being in our hotel room that we should ever fear for our safety."
She responds to a question from the chief judge, or Monsieur le President, who leads today's proceedings: “Just because a woman wears jewellery, doesn’t make her a target. That’s like saying just because a woman wears a short skirt that she deserves to be raped.”
In pictures: Defendants and lawyers arriving in court on Tuesday morning
09:46
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Alex Croft
Harouche: 'It was like Kim was not in her body'
09:33
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from court:
Harouche tells the court she and Kardashian found safety and waited for Kardashian's bodyguard, Pascal.
"It felt like a long time we were there, but maybe it was only a couple of minutes before Pascal arrived.
"Then he arrived and we felt OK” - she taps her hand over her heart – “that we could be OK.”
“I can say that it was like Kim was not in her body. You know, when you’re in so much shock from trauma? I was still very afraid because I still didn’t know who the men were. And then a couple of hours after that the police then arrived."
Police didn't take an account from Harouche at the time, she says.
"I was confused as to why they didn’t want more of a statement from me at the time. There was a lot happening from the apartment and the police were more focused on what happened to Kim."
Harouche says she "just wanted to go home".
Harouche: She came into my room taped up - I thought she could have been raped
09:24
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the courthouse:
Simone Harouche has recalled texting Kourtney Kardashian to say that "something was very wrong" after hearing a soung of “terror” from Kim.
"A couple of minutes went by, I was still hearing things upstairs," she tells the court. "Then I heard the footsteps coming down the stairs. I thought that they were coming for me next.
“I was very afraid for what was happening to me friend upstairs. I had no idea what was going on and I was scared that she was raped or violated. I thought the worst."
The noises stopped. "I thought maybe they had gone. Then I heard Kim screaming. She was saying my name, and ‘are they gone?’
"I heard her coming down the stairs, but like hopping down the stairs.
"She came into my room and she had tape around her. She was wearing a light robe with nothing underneath, it was all messed up. I thought she could have been raped or very violated."
I heard a sound of terror I had never heard from Kim, says star's friend
09:18
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Alex Croft
Zoë Beaty reports from the courthouse:
Simone Harouche has taken the stand. She's a fashion stylist from Los Angeles hired by Kim Kardashian for Paris fashion week that year. Not only has she worked with Kim, she tells the court, she's also been friends with Kim for a long time.
"That's to say I know her very well. I know her sounds, I know her mannerisms; I know when she's happy and more serious," she says. "We've been friends since we were little girls."
"Thank you for allowing me to come here today and speak my piece," she begins.
The pair had been attending fashion shows all day of the robbery.
"Kim said that she was going to possibly have dinner, a few friends were maybe going to come over.
“I was in and out of my room packing, and then finally around 11.30pm I went to my room to bed.
"I was in bed at the time I had heard a couple of friends come over, they were in the room next to me. I went back to sleep. It was normal background noise.
"It was quiet for an hour or two. Then I woke up to a very different sound."
When she woke up, she heard a “sound that I had never heard from Kim. It was terror.”
“What I heard specifically was ‘I have babies and I need to live, take everything, I need to live.’”
Inside the courtroom: Media gathers inside grand walls of Palais de Justice
09:03
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Alex Croft
Special correspondent Zoe Beaty reports from inside the courtroom:
We’re now inside the Palais de Justice, where a thick line of camera-heavy broadcast media has set up behind red tape under the stone-carved arched hallways outside court Voltaire, where the trial is taking place.
The Court D’Appel’s inners are grand. The testimonies are heard below impossibly high ceilings adorned with gilded Neoclassical paintings and carvings; in the press transmission room enormous brass chandeliers hang over around 20 journalists from all over the world.
While there’s no real indication of exactly when Kim Kardashian will appear in court to give evidence today, court is due to sit at 10am. A member of the public who has attended a few days of the trial so far says that it could be a long shift – previous days, she says, have begun at 9am and sat until 8pm.
What has the trial heard so far?
08:56
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Alex Croft
The trial of ten people alleged to have robbed Kim Kardashian has been ongoing since late April, when a number of defendants took the stand.
Jurors have heard how police tracked down Aomar Ait Khedache - believed to be the ringleader of the group, which is mostly composed of older men - after he had left DNA on a piece of duct tape and the cable ties used to bind Ms Kardashian.
Mr Khedache admitted taking part in the heist, but denied playing a leading role.
It heard of the mistakes which were made by the robbers throughout the heist, including Yunice Abbas, who has admitted his role in the robbery, allegedly dropping a bag of jewellery after he fell while cycling from the scene.
A necklace was left behind, which was found and reported to police. It was the only one of the stolen items that was ever found.
Jurors were also told that the Madar family, including suspect Gary Madar, had worked with the Kardashian family for years. Ms Kardashian suggested Gary Madar may have fed information to the gang which assisted the robbery.
Crowds of media gather inside courthouse
08:38
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Alex Croft