PARIS — Kim Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint Sunday night inside a luxury Paris apartment by two masked men dressed as police officers, according to a spokeswoman. The mayor of Paris condemned the attack, and a police spokesman said that investigators were treating it as a serious crime.
Ms. Kardashian West, a reality TV star, was “badly shaken but physically unharmed,” the spokeswoman told The Associated Press, offering no further details. After the attack, the police were on guard outside the private luxury residence where she was staying while attending Paris Fashion Week — the Hôtel de Pourtalès, near the Madeleine church in the Eighth Arrondissement — but news agencies reported that Ms. Kardashian West and her children had left the country.
The attack was described as a violent robbery, though officials have not provided a detailed account of what happened.
Reuters quoted a spokeswoman for Ms. Kardashian West, Ina Treciokas, as saying that two masked gunmen dressed as police officers had held up the star in her room. The news agency also cited police sources who said she had been left tied up in a bathroom.
Agence France-Presse quoted an unnamed police source as saying that a ring worth around 4 million euros, or about $4.5 million, had been stolen, along with a case of jewelry worth around €5 million and two mobile phones.
The Associated Press, citing the Paris prosecutor’s office, said that two attackers who forced their way into the apartment were among five people being sought by the police.
Details of the attack could not be independently confirmed on Monday.
A spokesman for the Paris police, reached by phone, would say only that a unit responsible for investigating robberies, burglaries and major thefts was on the case and that officers would use “all means at their disposal” to catch those responsible. Representatives of the prosecutor’s office did not respond to phone messages.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, vowed that the police would
find the perpetrators.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, vowed that the police would
find the perpetrators.
“I condemn the attack Kim Kardashian suffered last night in her hotel,” Ms. Hidalgo said in a statement. “She has my support and will always be welcome here in Paris. I have full confidence that the police force, as part of their investigation, will quickly identify and apprehend the perpetrators of these acts.”
Paris endured major terrorist attacks in January and November 2015, and foreign tourism has dropped substantially. France remains under a state of emergency. Ms. Hidalgo emphasized on Monday that the city was safe to visit.
“This is a very rare occurrence that took place in a private space, and in no way does it call into question the work of our police or the security of our public spaces,” she said. “It is possible to visit the French capital and enjoy all it has to offer in secure conditions.”
Ms. Kardashian West, who is known for her use of social media, had not posted about the episode on Twitter or Instagram as of Monday morning.
Earlier on Sunday, she had attended the Givenchy fashion show, alongside her sister Kourtney Kardashian; her mother, Kris Jenner; and the rock singer Courtney Love.
Later, Ms. Kardashian West attended a private dinner hosted by the fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa and Surface magazine, an American design publication, in the Marais district, leaving with her sister at midnight.
The episode came days after Ms. Kardashian West was almost tackled in a Paris street by an assailant before he was pinned to the ground by her bodyguards. The attacker has been identified as Vitalii Sediuk, who has ambushed several other celebrities.
Ms. Kardashian West’s spokeswoman made her comments to The A.P. not long after the star’s husband, Kanye West, abruptly walked offstage as he performed his song “Heartless” at a music festival in Queens.
“I’m sorry, there’s been a family emergency,” he told concertgoers, according to multiple videos posted online by fans in attendance. “I have to stop the show.”
He was performing at the Meadows, a music and arts festival, which confirmed the cancellation on Twitter.
The A.P. reported that the couple’s daughter, North, who is 3, and their infant son, Saint, had been placed under police protection at another hotel, the George V, after the assault, and that it was not clear where they had been at the time of the robbery.
The attack on Ms. Kardashian West quickly became political fodder on Monday; presidential elections are scheduled for next year, and the incumbent, François Hollande of the Socialist Party, is expected to face a stiff challenge from right-wing candidates.
“What happened to her is running nonstop on every channel,” Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a member of the National Assembly with the center-right opposition party, the Republicans, told the news channel Europe1. “Do you realize the kind of anti-commercial this is for Paris? Today, you can make any kind of commercial you want for Paris, and they are very expensive. All these commercials were canceled out by what happened to Kim Kardashian.”
In her statement, Ms. Hidalgo warned politicians not to exploit the issue for political gain, though she did not cite Ms. Kosciusko-Morizet — who ran against Ms. Hidalgo for mayor of Paris in 2014 — by name.
“I call on politicians from right and left, in a presidential precampaign period sometimes conducive to slogans, to exercise responsibility,” Ms. Hidalgo said. “In a complicated context of tourism, in which boosting the number of visitors must be the priority of all, to use this incident for polemical purposes would amount to directly harming the tourism sector, which represents 500,000 jobs in Île-de-France,” she added, referring to the region including Paris.
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