Last year, celebrity pop culture was rocked when reality star and camera magnet Kim Kardashian was the victim of a horrifying robbery in Paris, which caused her to temporarily step away from the limelight and social media in order to reflect on the experience and other aspects of her life. Though she's talked about the incident in part in the past, Sunday night's episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians brought to light more details, as well as the depressingly awful thoughts that went through her head after the thieves had taken her and the hotel concierge captive.
Then he duct tapes my face, and then my mouth to get my to not yell or anything. And then he grabs my legs, and I wasn't, you know, I had no clothes on under. So he pulled me towards him at the front of the bed, and I thought, 'Okay, this is the moment. They're gonna rape me.' And I fully mentally prepped myself, and then he didn't. . . . Then, you know, they had the gun up to me, and I just knew that was the moment they were just totally gonna shoot me in the head. I just prayed that Kourtney is going to have a normal life after she sees my dead body on the bed.
It's inarguable that Kim Kardashian and her many family members are consistent fodder for headlines and Internet posts that ramp up mean-spirited and sarcastic thoughts, but there's nothing about her disquieting tale during Keeping Up With the Kardashians that should inspire anything but empathy, along with disgust for those who only wish to bring harm to others. Well, there are obviously other feelings and emotions that might come up, but they should be of the "that shouldn't happen to anyone" variety. The robbery was enough to delay production of KUWTK, after all, which is something that wouldn't have otherwise seemed possible.
These damningly dark instincts and mental preparations are, obviously, at the opposite end of the spectrum from what people are used to hearing from Kim Kardashian, which makes it feel all the more reverse-reality. A situation like that, where there are absolutely zero guarantees, gives the brain a ripe opportunity to dredge up as much humanity and strength that are available while also trying to embrace acceptance of how fleeting safety is. And then everything opens up to what the aftermath could be like, resulting in that haunting image of Kourtney finding Kim's body, and there's almost no turning back. Plus, all those thoughts cascade instantaneously, so there's no time for centering.
Considering the Kardashian family was rocked by a particular murder in the 1990s, one that made big waves in 2016 with FX's accolade-friendly The People v. O.J. Simpson and ESPN's Oscar-winning O.J.: Made in America, one would assume Kim Kardashian would have had that controversy also swirling around in her head. Thankfully, none of those most extreme thoughts came to existence, and Kim Kardashian was able to make it through the experience with more mental trauma than physical trauma, and perhaps now that she has gone public with more aspects of the ordeal, the healing process will become even easier to adapt to.
Still getting into the groove of Season 13, Keeping Up With the Kardashians airs Sunday on E! at 9:00 p.m. ET. Head to our midseason premiere schedule and our summer TV guide to see what kind of more lighthearted fare you can expect to see in the coming months.
