Taylor Swift's $1 Court Victory Made Headlines, Now Kim Kardashian Wins $1.15 After Paris Robbery

A Paris court on Tuesday awarded Kim Kardashian a symbolic €1 ($1.15, £0.86) in damages for the 2016 armed robbery in which she was bound at gunpoint and stripped of millions of pounds worth of jewellery.

The sum was the exact amount she had requested. In a joint statement with her longtime stylist Simone Harouche, who was inside the residence during the raid, Kardashian said the ruling was about recognition rather than money.

'The experience was deeply traumatic, and its impact has stayed with us. Today's decision is not about the compensation, but about accountability and recognition,' the pair said. 'We are thankful to the Court and everyone who supported us throughout this process, and we hope to now move forward and continue to heal.'

The symbolic figure matches the outcome of a case Taylor Swift brought nine years earlier. In 2017, a Denver jury sided with the singer in her counterclaim against former radio DJ David Mueller, whom she accused of groping her at a 2013 meet-and-greet. Swift had sued for a single dollar.

Her attorney, Douglas Baldridge, urged jurors to award 'a single symbolic dollar, the value of which is immeasurable to all women in this situation.' The jury agreed.

The Fashion Week Robbery

On 2 October 2016, robbers disguised as police officers forced their way into Kardashian's suite at the Hôtel de Pourtalès, a private residence where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week.

They bound her hands with zip ties and tape, held her at gunpoint, and locked her in the bathroom before escaping. The gang took more than $6M (£4.5M) in jewellery, including the diamond engagement ring given to her by her then-husband, Kanye West, valued at about $4M (£3M), which she had worn to a Givenchy show earlier that evening.

As the robbers fled on foot and by bicycle, they dropped some of the jewels, including a diamond cross that a passer-by later handed to police. Most of the haul, including the ring, was never recovered.

The trial opened in Paris in late April 2025, with Kardashian testifying in person on 13 May. She told the court she had believed she would be killed. Harouche, a childhood friend who has known her since the two were 12, said she had been asleep in a room downstairs and was woken by the sounds of the struggle. 'I know (Kim) very well. I know her sounds, her mannerisms,' she told the court.

The 'Grandpa Robbers' and the Trial

The case attracted significant attention in France, partly because of the suspects' ages. Most of the gang were in their 60s and 70s, earning them the nickname 'les papys braqueurs', or the 'grandpa robbers'. On 23 May 2025, a Paris court found eight of the 10 defendants guilty of charges ranging from armed robbery to complicity, and acquitted the other two. One of those cleared of the robbery was convicted of illegally possessing a firearm.

The ringleader, Aomar Aït Khedache, 69, who is deaf and followed proceedings on a screen, received the heaviest sentence at eight years, five of them suspended. He asked the court for 'a thousand pardons'. Because every convicted defendant had already spent time in pre-trial detention, none returned to prison, and none appealed the verdict. During the trial, Kardashian told Khedache that she forgave him.

Larger Payouts for the Hotel and Its Staff

Kardashian was not the only party seeking damages. The court awarded a former receptionist at the Hôtel de Pourtalès €109,516 ($126,472, £94,000), according to his lawyer, after he said the ordeal had left him traumatised. He had originally sought €550,000 ($634,868, £472,000). The hotel was granted €50,000 ($57,741, £43,000).

Harouche, like Kardashian, was awarded a symbolic €1. Kardashian said she was now ready to move forward, nearly 10 years after the robbery.