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Kim Kardashian is finally going to testify about being robbed in Paris. How did we get here?

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Kim Kardashian is finally going to testify about being robbed in Paris. How did we get here?

It has been almost 3,150 days — more than 8½ years — since Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. On Tuesday, she finally gets to testify against the suspects.

By the fall of 2016, the Kim Kardashian West train had been speeding through the celebrity landscape like a bullet for years, running down anyone in its way and leaving everyone else in the dust. She was everything everywhere all at once, all the time. She had been married, then divorced, then had babies, then got married again. She broke the internet. And that fame train seemed destined to circle the globe in perpetuity.

Then came Paris Fashion Week. What could go wrong?

In the early-morning hours of Oct. 3, 2016, the Kim K. train suddenly derailed: A party of men entered Kardashian’s two-story Paris pad, armed with guns and zip ties and hunting for jewels. Specifically, Kardashian’s jewels, which she had flaunted on social media.

What happened in the Paris apartment?

Shortly after 2 a.m. local time, Kardashian was reportedly lying in bed clad only in a robe when she heard people stomping up the stairs in her two-story apartment at the Hôtel de Pourtalès. It turned out the men had been directed there by the night concierge, who said he had been threatened at gunpoint. She caught a glimpse of two of the guys, rolled off the bed and tried to call her bodyguard before her phone was taken from her.

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Her wrists were zip-tied and duct-taped, and she was grabbed by the ankles — at which point, she told the police, she thought she was going to be raped. Instead, her assailants bound her ankles with duct tape and carried her to the bathtub, as Kardashian screamed for them to take her money and jewelry but please spare her life, because she was at that point the mother of two children.

The men did not speak English but kept saying, “Ring, ring,” she told police. After Kardashian told them where to find the massive diamond — a recent gift from then-husband Kanye West that she had been showing off on social media — they duct-taped her mouth.

Kardashian was left lying helplessly on the bathroom floor as the robbers left with their haul. A friend who was staying in a downstairs bedroom heard the commotion and called the reality star’s bodyguard, who had been out with her sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner at a club nearby and quickly returned to the hotel.

Did people believe Kardashian’s story?

The internet-posting public did not believe her, at least at first. Self-styled pundits immediately suggested she had staged the whole thing for publicity — as if she couldn’t get that on her own simply by waking up and snapping a selfie. The reality star quickly sued MediaTakeout.com for libel after it said she made up the story, lied about the assault and filed a fraudulent insurance claim. Police, meanwhile, quickly dismissed the notion that Kardashian was lying because she was so badly shaken up, but seriously investigated whether it was an inside job. (The night concierge and the bodyguard are slated to testify at trial.)

The libel lawsuit was settled within weeks, CNN reported, with the website issuing a retraction and acknowledging that Kardashian had in fact been robbed at gunpoint.

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When did authorities arrest and charge the suspects?

Arrests came Jan. 10, 2017, when 17 people were taken into custody in multiple raids around Paris. Kardashian’s chauffeur was among those arrested, but he was released after questioning. By 2021, the suspects had been narrowed to 12 people who were slated to stand trial. One suspect, however, has died since being questioned, and another has been excused from the trial because he is 81 and has advanced Alzheimer’s, the BBC reported.

In fact, French media has been referring to the main suspects as the Grandpa Robbers, due to their advanced ages — the eldest defendant is 78. They didn’t really know who Kardashian was at the time of the robbery but were reportedly told she was “a rapper’s wife.” Ten suspects remain on the hook, including one woman. Of those, five went into Kardashian’s apartment during the robbery. The rest are accused of aiding and abetting.

What have the suspects been doing since then?

One suspect, Yunice Abbas, told a French outlet in 2022 that since Kardashian “was throwing money away, I was there to collect it, and that was that. Guilty? No, I don’t care. I don’t care.”

Now 71, Abbas, one of two suspects whose DNA was found at the crime scene, has said he plans to apologize when he’s in court. He also says he was unarmed and acted as a lookout on the ground floor of the hotel.

“I saw one of her shows where she threw her diamond in the pool in that episode of ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians,’” he told Vice in 2022. “I thought, ‘She’s got a lot of money. This lady doesn’t care at all.’”

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The alleged mastermind behind the plot, Aomar Ait Khedache, wrote an apology letter to Kardashian from prison in 2017, saying he regretted his actions and realized the psychological damage he caused. “Old Omar” has admitted tying up Kardashian but denies being the brains behind the operation.

The other suspects, including Ait Khedache’s son Harminy, have maintained their innocence.

What happened to the jewelry?

About $6 million worth of jewelry was stolen, or maybe it was $10 million worth, depending on which of the many accounts can be trusted. Kardashian and ex-husband Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, reportedly submitted insurance claims worth $5.6 million. In the 8½ years since the robbery, only one piece has been recovered: a diamond cross on platinum that the suspects lost as they escaped on bicycles. Its value was estimated at just over $33,000, per Vanity Fair.

An 18.8-carat diamond ring — which was a gift to Kardashian from Ye — a yellow-gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, seven Cartier and Hermès bracelets and three gold-and-diamond grills were all in the haul, VF reported. Anything that was unique, like the stone in that diamond ring, has likely been broken down into pieces and resold, a jewelry-theft expert told People in 2016.

What happens next?

Kardashian is set to testify in Paris on Tuesday afternoon — around 5 a.m. in California. She will be questioned first by the judge, according to the New York Post, then by her attorneys, then by the prosecutors, and finally by the defendants’ attorneys.

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In mid-April, a Kardashian attorney confirmed to the AP that she would testify at the trial, which started April 28 and is scheduled to run until May 23. But until she appears on the stand, the statement said, the reality mogul is “reserving her testimony for the court and jury and does not wish to elaborate further at this time.”

That sounds like it’s French for “no comment.”

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Lucas Museum to give free annual passes to South L.A. neighbors, host community preview day

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Lucas Museum to give free annual passes to South L.A. neighbors, host community preview day

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is moving at light speed toward its Sept. 22 opening, announced Thursday that it will give free annual passes to its South L.A. neighbors living in the 90037 ZIP Code. The 300,000-square-foot, $1-billion museum located in Exposition Park will also host a special community preview day on Sept. 13, more than a week before the general public gets to step inside.

The 90037 ZIP Code has a population of more than 65,000 and is bordered roughly by the 110 Freeway to the west, Slauson Avenue to the south, Central Avenue to the east and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the north. Residents can register for passes at lucasmuseum.org/lm37 and will be alerted in August when the program launches. Pass holders can reserve tickets for themselves and one guest.

Tickets for non-pass holders go on sale July 21. They cost $25 for adults and $21 for seniors. Kids 17 and under are free.

“Storytelling has the power to bring people together and create a sense of community,” said Lucas Museum Chief Executive Tracey Bates in a news release about the program. “Through LM37, we are inviting our South Los Angeles neighbors to make the museum part of their lives and take their own path of discovery through the art, programs and experiences that will help shape this new cultural hub for Los Angeles.”

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The community preview day is designed to give local business owners, community partners, civic leaders and registered LM37 pass holders a sneak peak of the 10,000 square feet of exhibition space, as well as the expansive gardens with 11 acres of park space.

The opening programming, curated by co-founder George Lucas, features 20 inaugural exhibitions across more than 30 galleries, including one titled “Star Wars in Motion,” containing vehicle designs, high-speed racers, flying vessels, props, costumes and illustrations from the first six films in the beloved franchise.

More than 1,200 objects will be on display from Lucas’ personal collection of narrative art. Highlights include work by Norman Rockwell and Dorothea Lange, as well as a variety of manga, children’s book illustrations and comics.

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Movie review: Supergirl is a blast

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Movie review: Supergirl is a blast

Last year’s “Superman” ended with Iggy Pop singing “Because I’m a punk rocker, yes I am” — an ironic coda for a superlatively square hero. But it rings straightforwardly true for Superman’s cousin.

Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El, or Supergirl, sports not a spandex suit but a Blondie T-shirt. When we meet her in Craig Gillespie’s “Supergirl,” she’s been on an interstellar bender for days. She’s more Courtney Love than Clark Kent.

Nonchalant and sarcastic, Kara is also a little Han Solo-ish, you might say, given that she moves capriciously through the galaxy in her junky spaceship while getting in fights in extraterrestrial bars. She’s a welcome, jagged riff on more buttoned-up superheroes, and Alcock is terrific in the role. If only “Supergirl” was as good as she is.

While the latest DC release, and second under James Gunn’s stewardship, has its moments, “Supergirl” struggles to match Kara’s punk-rock energy with an equally spirited supporting cast and story.

Skepticism seems to have gathered for “Supergirl” ahead of its release. Many fans have argued it wasn’t the right next step for DC Universe. But I’m not so sure. Alcock’s breezy cameo in “Superman” was one of that movie’s highlights. Handing the follow-up to her, and her faithful floating dog Krypto, strikes me as an extremely natural next step. When in doubt, follow the dog.

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And much of “Supergirl” is winning. It resides almost entirely in space, touching down only momentarily on Earth. In its consistently creative production design, clever needle drops and underdog story arc, “Supergirl” resides a little closer to Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies than other DC entries. Its outer space is filled with cosmic detritus, mean characters and cute critters. Seth Rogen as the voice of a tiny alien co-piloting a space bus is an inspired concoction, as is a shabbier sci-fi realm with rest stops along the intergalactic highway.

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Justin Baldoni and wife break silence after ‘It Ends With Us’ legal battle with Blake Lively

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Justin Baldoni and wife break silence after ‘It Ends With Us’ legal battle with Blake Lively

Justin Baldoni has broken his silence after reaching a settlement in a lengthy and highly publicized legal dispute with Blake Lively.

Baldoni and his wife, Emily Baldoni, presented a united front in an Instagram video the couple shared Wednesday that began, “So we have not spoken publicly for the better part of the last two years, and it’s not because we haven’t had anything to say, because Lord knows we have.”

The “It Ends With Us” actor and director said that although they’d wanted to address the debacle that involved dueling lawsuits with Lively, nearly two years of tit-for-tat fodder and culminated in a confidential settlement, “something was telling us not to.”

The couple said they prayed about when to make a public statement. “This feels like the moment,” Emily said.

“What does feel important,” she continued, “is that we can genuinely say that we are sitting here today feeling immense gratitude for so many things and so many people and so many things that have happened to us.”

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“Gratitude has saved us,” Justin added.

“I also feel that it’s important as we say that — in that gratitude — it doesn’t negate the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years, and we’ve had to wrestle with so many things and try to understand so many things,” Emily said. “How could something like this even happen? Let alone disguised as a fight for women. So much to unpack. And the truth is, reality is, is that there’s been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family, which also makes it hard to speak.”

“We don’t even know this is the right thing to say, but we just know we need to share something,” Justin said. “What I will say is that there have been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence — “

“Untruthful,” Emily broke in.

“We didn’t want to add to the noise, so we just wanted to let the justice system run its course,” he said.

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“And the truth and the facts have spoken for themselves,” Emily said.

The couple’s statement comes a year and a half after Lively filed a bombshell lawsuit against Baldoni alleging sexual harassment, retaliation and several other charges on the heels of a messy “It Ends With Us” summer release and press tour that fueled rumors of on-set turmoil.

Less than a month after the allegations against Baldoni rallied Hollywood against him, he countersued Lively, her publicist Leslie Sloane and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million in damages, claiming they’d smeared his name in the press and wrestled away his control of the film. His suit was later dismissed.

In May, two weeks ahead of the trial, Lively and Baldoni reached an agreement to resolve their legal dispute, bringing an abrupt end to the contentious battle.

“The parties in the Blake Lively and Wayfarer Studios litigation have reached an agreement to resolve the matters,” lawyers for both sides said in a joint statement.

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“The end product — the movie ‘It Ends With Us’ — is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life. Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind. We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard. We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments. It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online.”

In June, a federal judge ordered Baldoni and his production company to pay Lively’s attorney fees related to his unsuccessful defamation lawsuit against her, but rejected her bid for additional damages.

“So, how are we doing?” the filmmaker said in the Instagram video. “We are healing, and if you’ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn’t linear. It lives different every day, and we have had to rethink for ourselves what is real. What matters, and it’s this. It’s our family. It’s our friends. It’s our community. It’s our faith.”

Times staff writer Josh Rottenberg contributed to this report.

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