Kim Kardashian, the reality TV star and entrepreneur, arrived at a Paris court on Tuesday where she will face the so-called “grandpa robbers” who are accused of violently stealing from her in the French capital nearly a decade ago.
Ms. Kardashian is expected to explain how she was gagged, bound with tape and zip ties, and robbed at gunpoint at a residence she rented during Paris Fashion Week in October 2016.
Ms. Kardashian, 44, has described in previous interviews the trauma she suffered when men dressed as police officers and wearing balaclavas burst into the property and stole valuables, including a $4 million diamond engagement ring.
But her appearance in court on Tuesday will mark the only time that she is expected to take the stand and face those accused of robbing her.
From dawn, scores of journalists and curious onlookers hoping to catch a glimpse of Ms. Kardashian had lined up to get into the courtroom to sit in the public gallery. Under French law, cameras are not allowed in the court.
The courthouse buzzed with activity ahead of Ms. Kardashian’s appearance, as teenagers snapped selfies in marble hallways and camera crews jostled to get the best view.
Theo Chbouki, an 18-year-old fashion student in the line, said that it was his first time attending a criminal trial and that he was curious to see Ms. Kardashian in a “serious” real-life setting, without the glossy veneer of social media or reality TV.
“It’s iconic to see Kim Kardashian at a trial in Paris,” he said.
Several of the defendants in the trial — nine men and one woman — are in their 60s and 70s, and have been described by prosecutors as career criminals.
Some have been charged with armed robbery in an organized gang, kidnapping and other charges. Others have been accused of complicity or of lesser charges. The trial, which will be decided by three judges and a six-person jury, is set to last until the end of May.
Most of the accused have denied involvement in the robbery. At the time, the stolen jewelry was estimated to be worth at least 8 million euros, or over $9 million.
“I think that moment changed her life forever,” Simone Harouche, a friend of Ms. Kardashian who was her fashion stylist at the time, told the court on Tuesday.
Ms. Harouche testified that Ms. Kardashian had upgraded her private security after the robbery and changed her habits on social media, where she has hundreds of millions of followers. Prosecutors believe that the thieves targeted Ms. Kardashian because she had displayed some of her jewelry online.
“Nothing that she posts is in real time anymore,” Ms. Harouche said.
Ms. Harouche was the only other person in the residence with the reality TV star that night, and recalled falling asleep in the evening until she was startled awake by Ms. Kardashian screaming that she had children and that she wanted to live.
“It was a sound that I had never heard from Kim — it was terror,” said Ms. Harouche, whose room was a floor below Ms. Kardashian’s. She recalled how the distraught celebrity hopped down the stairs, her ankles tied with tape, once the thieves had left.
“She was beside herself,” Ms. Harouche added. “I’ve never seen her like this before.”
Investigators found DNA on the tape and zip ties that were used to bind Ms. Kardashian’s hands and feet, and the police arrested several suspects after three months of wiretaps and surveillance.
Aurelien Breeden is a reporter for The Times in Paris, covering news from France.
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