Yunice Abbas, author of a 2021 French book with the English-translated title of I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian, claimed in court this week that he's not proud of his actions in connection with the 2016 armed robbery of the SKIMS co-founder. In fact, Abbas, one of several suspects in the Paris Fashion Week robbery at the center of an ongoing trial, has now expressed “regrets” over his involvement.
Per on-the-scene reporting from Laura Gozzi for BBC News, Abbas acknowledged that he previously did not feel regret for his years of various alleged criminal offenses—at least, not until he was made aware of the traumatic impact this particular robbery had on its victim. In the report, Abbas is quoted as telling the court, in part, “it opened my eyes.”
The 72-year-old’s in-court comments are further detailed in a separate report from NBC News. Per the outlet, Abbas, who previously asserted he felt no guilt over the robbery during a Vice conversation circa 2022, claimed this week that his newfound sense of “regret” does not stem from merely being “caught.” Instead, Abbas added, the fact that “there was a trauma” has led to him feeling this way.
Kardashian herself is expected to testify in the trial next month, as is stylist Simone Harouche. In a 2017 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kim looked back on the harrowing experience of targeted in the multimillion-dollar jewelry heist, revealing that she was starting to fall asleep on the evening in question when she heard footsteps “bounding up the stairs” of her Paris hotel room.
“My heart started to get really tense,” she recalled. “Your stomach just kind of knots up and you’re like, okay, what’s going on? I knew something wasn’t quite right.”
According to Kardashian, she also saw the concierge of the hotel handcuffed by the suspects, who had allegedly demanded access to the where “the rapper’s wife” was staying. At the time, Kardashian was married to the artist formerly known as Kanye West, with whom she shares four children.
In 2020, Kardashian spoke in greater detail about the traumatic moment during an appearance on David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. Her mother, Kris Jenner, and other family members were in the audience for the taping of the episode, during which she recalled fearing that she would be sexually assaulted by one of the suspects.
“He grabbed me and pulled me towards him but I wasn’t wearing anything underneath,” Kardashian said at the time while fighting back tears. “So I was like, okay, this is the time I’m gonna get raped. Just deal. This is gonna happen. Just prepare yourself. So I did. And then he tied me up with handcuffs and zip ties and then duct tape. And then [he] duct-taped my mouth and eyes.”
In addition to Abbas, other defendants in the case are slated to testify in the Paris trial. Notably, one suspect has been reported to have died in the nearly 10 years since the robbery occurred. Collectively, the group has been widely referred to as “the grandpa robbers” due to the advanced ages of almost all of them.