Kim Kardashian robbed at gunpoint in Paris, police say

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian was back in the United States Monday after being robbed at gunpoint in Paris hours before.

The French news site TheLocal.fr and the European news agency AFP reported that the robbery took place around 2:30 a.m. Monday local time in Paris’ Madeleine district. USA Today said Kardashian, 35, was staying in an apartment Kanye West owns at the Hôtel de Pourtalès, a highly private, unmarked abode catering to the wealthy. After being questioned by police, Kardashian — who had been in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week — left the country from Le Bourget Airport, just north of the city.

A Kardashian spokeswoman told AFP the star was “badly shaken but physically unharmed” after “two armed masked men dressed as police officers” surprised her in the apartment. Law-enforcement officials told the agency that Kardashian had been “tied up and locked in the bathroom” while five thieves stole two mobile phones, a ring worth approximately $4.5 million and a case of jewelry valued at approximately $5.6 million.

With time-zone differences, it was still Sunday night on the East Coast when Kardashian’s husband, rapper Kanye West, was performing at The Meadows Music and Arts Festival in Queens and was informed of the robbery. In amateur footage posted to YouTube, West, 39, cuts short the song “Heartless” and tells the crowd at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. . . . I’m sorry, I have a family emergency, I have to stop the show.” He then leaves the stage.

Kardashian arrived Monday at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, according to multiple news outlets. Shortly afterward, she, West, her mother Kris Jenner and others drove to the couple’s downtown Manhattan apartment in a convoy of what eyewitnesses said were eight to 15 Cadillac Escalade SUVs.

The robbery prompted snickering on social media, along with speculation of a publicity stunt and questions over the role of Kardashian’s bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, who reportedly was protecting two of the star’s sisters, Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner, at a Parisian nightclub.

Others defended her. “People making jokes about Kim Kardashian tonight would do well to remember that she’s a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend. Be nice or shut up,” tweeted “The Late Late Show” host James Corden. Comedian Sherri Shepherd wrote similarly, “Just heard about Kim Kardashian being robbed @gun point. So glad she’s okay. Kim you’re a wife, mother, sister & praying woman #Godsgotyou.”

The promoters of The Meadows festival took heat as well, after releasing a statement that made no mention of refunds: “Due to a family emergency Kanye West was forced to end his performance towards the end of his set. We appreciate the great show he put on for fans to close out the inaugural Meadows festival. Our thoughts are with West and his family.”

“He definitely wasn’t towards the end of his set. Had bout 12 songs to go. How’d you come up with that?” wrote one. “Showed up 45 mins late left 30 mins early. . . . ridiculous,” wrote another. One simply posted, “REFUND,” while another asked, “Are your thoughts with your customers who spent $260 on two days of acts that didn’t happen?”