Kim Kardashian gives gripping testimony at the Paris trial of men who bound and robbed her at gunpoint in 2016.

In a stark Paris courtroom, nearly a decade after masked men stormed her hotel room, bound her with duct tape and held her at gunpoint, Kim Kardashian faced the men accused of changing her life for ever.

It was an emotional return to the city where the reality star’s world shifted in one terrifying night. As she delivered her testimony in the trial of the so-called “grandpa robbers” — a gang of ageing criminals in their 60s and 70s — Kardashian’s words painted a vivid, harrowing picture of the fear and helplessness she felt during the 2016 attack.

With poise but visible emotion, Kardashian recounted how five men broke into her luxury Paris residence during Fashion Week, tied her up, gagged her, and left her in a bathtub while they stole millions in jewellery, including her 20-carat engagement ring.

“I thought they were going to rape me. I prayed they would just let me live,” she said in her testimony, delivered behind closed doors but later summarised by court officials. “I begged them. I told them I had babies. I thought this was the end.”

The courtroom sat silent as she relived the moment her bodyguard was not present, her cries for help unheard in the early hours of the morning. For Kardashian, the horror of that night was only the beginning.

In the years since, the global media response has often veered from sympathetic to cruelly dismissive. Critics accused her of flaunting her wealth, of staging the attack, even of deserving it — attitudes Kardashian condemned in her statement as a second trauma.

“I was dehumanised. I was blamed for my own assault. People made jokes,” she said. “But nothing about that night was funny. Nothing about it was a stunt.”

The trial centres on 12 men — dubbed the “grandpa robbers” by French press due to their age and old-school tactics — who police say tracked Kardashian’s movements on social media. The heist itself, which netted over $10 million in jewels, is considered the largest robbery of a private citizen in France in decades.

One suspect, 68-year-old Yunis Abbas, has already published a memoir about the crime, prompting Kardashian’s legal team to accuse him of exploiting the trauma for profit. In the courtroom, Abbas showed no emotion as Kardashian spoke.

Security was tight at the Palais de Justice, with dozens of police deployed and the press held at bay. Kardashian, dressed in a sombre black ensemble, was shielded from cameras but walked into the courthouse with her head held high.

In a brief comment to reporters outside, she said: “I’m here because I believe in justice. Not just for me, but for every woman who’s been silenced or shamed.”

The robbery forced Kardashian to change her lifestyle. She stopped wearing flashy jewellery in public, reduced her social media presence, and began campaigning for criminal justice reform. The attack, she has said, “shattered the illusion” of her carefully curated celebrity life.

Her testimony may not only bring closure, but also serve as a stark reminder that even the most visible, powerful women can be vulnerable — and deserve to be believed, not ridiculed.

The trial continues this week, with closing arguments expected by the end of the month