In October 2016, Kim Kardashian was bound, gagged, and robbed at gunpoint when five armed men dressed as police officers forced their way into her Paris hotel room. The robbers stole over $10 million worth of her jewelry, including the new engagement ring Kanye West had recently bought her. She later said that she begged the robbers to "spare her life" because she "had babies at home." While she was ultimately unharmed, the incident understandably left her severely shaken.
Kim has spoken of the harrowing incident numerous times since it occurred, especially given the way people reacted to it on social media. While some sympathized with the celebrity mogul, others believed she "got what she deserved" for repeatedly flashing her opulent lifestyle and locations on her Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Last April, Kim appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show and said that while no one "deserves" to get robbed at gunpoint, regardless of how they live, the event radically changed how she viewed her life:
"I know this sounds crazy, but I know that was meant to happen to me. I don't want to start crying, but I feel like that was so meant to happen to me...I'm such a different person. I, um...I don't want to start crying anymore. It was meant to happen to me. I really feel like things happen in your life to teach you things. It was probably no secret, and you see it on the show—I was being flashy and I was definitely materialistic before...I don't care to show off the way that I used to. Even though there's nothing wrong, truly—it's OK if you're proud of that and you work so hard and you get something—it's just not who I am anymore."
Now that it's been just over two years since the horrifying event, Kim has given an interview on The Alec Baldwin Show in which she says she is actual "grateful" that it happened, because it totally changed her outlook on life.
"My life has definitely changed a lot in the last two years from that experience and just wanting more privacy... In the last three months, I feel like I've come out of my shell a little bit more, back to who I was. I was never depressed, but I wasn't motivated to get up and work like I used to. It shook me...I'm totally a realist. So I know, you post on social media your locations, your jewelry, your bags, what you're doing, where you're going, your cars, your stuff. I would always talk about my stuff. There was a lot of me that measured who I was by how much I had...I thought, ‘Oh, I'm worth so much.' So that changed in me. And, that needed to change in me, so I'm grateful for the experience."
As much heat as she may get on an almost-daily basis, it's admirable to see the star gain such a positive takeaway from such a terrible experience. And to learn more about why Kim is right when she says having stuff isn't really important in the grand scheme of things, check out this story about how I Took Yale's Happiness Course and Here's Everything I Learned.
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