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It’s the biggest night in showbiz, at the heart of which lies the greatest accolade for any actor – an Academy Award.

Their performances have been judged by Hollywood’s great and good, and their teams have been campaigning for months – but who gets the gong on the night is yet to be revealed.

So, with the stakes high, and stars out in force, Sky News caught up with a host of Oscar nominees, and asked them how it feels to be in with the chance of taking home an Oscar on Sunday night.

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Michelle Yeoh says she’s not past her prime yet

Michelle Yeoh: ‘It would be the ultimate’

The multiverse madness that is Everything Everywhere All At Once is not only leading the Oscar race with 11 nods, it’s also given Michelle Yeoh her first Academy nomination.

The Malaysian actress plays Evelyn Wang, an overworked laundrette owner transported into ever more baffling parallel worlds in the touching indie sci-fi directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – collectively known as the Daniels.

Calling the script “a rare gem,” she told Sky News she was overjoyed “to be given a role that encompasses all the things that you want your audience to see and let them believe that you are capable of”.

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By centring the story around a middle-aged Asian woman, Yeoh says the movie has opened up new conversations: “Hollywood is global. How can it not include a movie like this? I think at the end of the day, kudos to the Daniels who had the courage to write a story like this with hotdog fingers, you know, and rocks and confetti man, and things like that, where normally people would go like, ‘This is too insane’.

“But our world is chaotic and insane and unpredictable, and we have to learn to embrace whatever comes our way.”

And as for her feelings about potentially becoming an Oscar winner, she admits: “I don’t like that pressure, this is my first time so I don’t understand how intense it is, just getting the nominations was terrifying. What if?! Because it felt like a big part of the world was wanting it so badly.”

If she doesn’t win, Yeoh’s philosophical, explaining: “For Jamie [Lee Curtis, her co-star] and myself we love what we do, we are passionate about our work…

“Getting nominated or getting an award would be the ultimate but if you don’t you sort of resign to it and go ‘yeh, it’s alright, we’ll move on, we’ll find something’ as long as we can do what we love it’s ok.”

But if she does bag her first Oscar aged 60, a defiant Yeoh has this to say to anyone who may question the lateness of the recognition: “When someone says, ‘Oh they’re past their prime’, hell no, we’re going to show you what prime is.”

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Colin Farrell says The Banshees of Inisherin’s nods are the ‘icing on the cake’

Colin Farrell: ‘The icing on the cake’

He’s been starring in movies for nearly a quarter of a century, but so far, he’s never been nominated for an Oscar.

But after winning a Golden Globe earlier this year, hopes are high that Irish star Colin Farrell could finally get his Academy Award for his role of slighted friend Padraic in The Banshees Of Inisherin.

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The 46-year-old star, who will be bringing his teenage son to the ceremony, told Sky News ahead of the big night: “To do the film, to be off the west coast of Ireland with the cast we had, the crew that we had and reuniting with this fella [co-star Brendan Gleeson} and reuniting with Martin, I was happy.

“Then Venice happened, and we were all shocked at the response we got in Venice and then since then it’s just been like a snowball. So, it’s icing on a cake that we were more than happy to have ravished already.”

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The star of The Mummy speaks about his first lead role in over a decade

Brendan Fraser: ‘Frothy, happy and giddy’

One of the biggest stars of the 1990s, Canadian-American actor Brendan Fraser’s return to Hollywood after nearly 20 years out of the limelight has been nothing short of spectacular.

The 53-year-old’s comeback, thanks to the role of morbidly obese English teacher Charlie in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, has even inspired its own definition – the “Bren-aissance”.

Fraser told Sky News he hopes the character’s “journey of redemption” will go on to “change some hearts and minds about how we feel about these issues”.

He said he had no doubts about signing up for the film: “Darren Aronofsky is a world-class film maker who has a track record for bringing out very good and even transformative performances from the actors he chooses to work with.

“So, I didn’t have any doubts knowing how good he is at what he does, if anything I had enthusiasm and some hope and some humility and a little bit of creative intimidation, I will admit too.”

And as for the experience of being up for an Oscar, he said: “It’s new to me but we’re all frothy and happy and giddy and happy for this with fingers crossed and fondest hopes for success but who knows what the result is going to be?

“I’m confident and I think that we have a shot of making it to the finish line.”

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The former child star says he ‘was so nervous’ to return to acting

Ke Huy Quan: ‘A wild ride’

On a comeback rollercoaster of his own, Ke Huy Quan, has worked through childhood fame thanks to Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom and The Goonies, followed by near-obscurity, and is now bouncing back into the spotlight with his critically acclaimed role in Everything Everywhere All At Once. It’s been quite the journey.

Quan plays Waymond Wang (and Alpha Waymond) in the parallel universe bonanza, which has surprised many with its numerous award show nominations and wins.

He told Sky News the response to the film has been overwhelming: “When I decided to step back into acting, I was so nervous because I didn’t know what the audience would think – the last time they saw me up on the screen I was a little kid, and now I’m a middle-aged man.

“So, so to have them respond so positively has been incredible.”

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Blockbusters, first-timers and snubs – all the Oscars talking points
How to watch all the big films nominated for Oscars

And as for taking the role, he says it was a no-brainer: “When I read the script, I knew it was special. I loved it, it was a script I wanted to read for a long time, and we had the most fun making it, but we didn’t expect all of this.

“I mean, all these, you know award nominations and the audience embracing a movie the way they did is beyond anything we ever imagined.”

And he’s clearly loving every minute of awards season: “I’m enjoying it very much. I’m very grateful for everything that has happened since. And yeah, it’s been it’s been a wild ride.”

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Michelle Williams says it’s ‘hard to feel like a great mum’ while serving her acting work

Michelle Williams: ‘Always doing something new’

It’s her fifth Academy nomination, but could it be her first win?

Michelle Williams, 42, plays Mitzi Fabelman, the mother to a fictional Steven Spielberg in the semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans which tells the story of his early life.

She told Sky News the film relates to her own experience as a mother: “I think it’s an incredible balance to try and strike and I do think balance is the correct word as it is something that is constantly adjusting and that you’re always looking for your footing on, it really is a give and take.

“Sometimes I think when you’re really serving your work, it’s really hard to feel like you’re being a great mom, and when you’re being an incredible mom you know that your work is languishing, so you have to find a way to go back and forth between these two realities and get comfortable with that discomfort.”

Despite the constant juggle, she says the rewards are worth it – awards or no awards: “I do this for my own sense of satisfaction, purpose, self-esteem, I want to feel a certain way internally about my contribution to this job that I’ve been doing for 30 years that is the only thing I’ve ever done and it’s always about doing something new.”

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The Love Actually star says working on the film was ‘deeply gratifying’

Bill Nighy: ‘Absolutely marvellous’

The 73-year-old British star plays buttoned-up civil servant Mr Williams, who works joylessly in the county public works department, until a terminal diagnosis inspires him to make a change.

Living is The Kazuo Ishiguro-scripted remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru – which quite literally reminds us to make the most of life.

Nighy told Sky News the reserved and stiff upper lip manner of the film was something he relished: “I’m fascinated by it, both from an acting point of view and because it’s fun. You know, to act in that kind of recklessly restrained manner and I’m interested in it as a thing.

“I think it probably is regrettable and psychiatrists would probably say it’s a deeply unhealthy way but there’s also something kind of heroic about it and it’s funny that you weren’t allowed to express anything really.”

Luckily, he says the response to the movie has been far from restrained: “I feel very, very, very good about it, as you can imagine. It’s been marvellous. People really respond to the movie and they’re inspired by it, which is what it was designed to do. So, it’s deeply, deeply gratifying.”

He even admits to enjoying all the attention – at least a little bit: “As much as I’m able to enjoy anything, I have a negative tendency which I have to really kind of combat. But no, seriously, yeah, it’s absolutely marvellous.”

And as for coping with awards season, he’s upbeat and positive: “I just try and do the day, really. I mean, I don’t sit around really thinking about awards. And it’s been a while since I’ve been mentioned in dispatches, but it’s all very cheerful and fun.”

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The Banshees of Inisherin filmmaker on working with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson

Martin McDonagh: ‘Exciting and scary at the same time’

The man behind Irish tragicomedy Banshees Of Inisherin – a tale of male friendship gone sour – has been blown away by the positive response to the movie starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keogh – all of whom are up for Oscars too.

He told Sky News: “We thought we were just making a smallish film and we didn’t think it would ever have this kind of reaction. It’s been amazing.

“Yeah, it’s great to do it like with mates, you know, Colin and Brendan are all mates and Kerry and Barry too. So yeah, it’s been a dream, really.”

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The movie’s up for the biggest prize of the night – best picture – as well as best original screenplay, best score and best editing. And McDonagh’s up for best director too.

Despite four of his Banshee actors being up for gongs, he says he isn’t expecting to become the go-to director for actors looking for a nod: “I hope not, I don’t like working! But no, it’s been amazing. And fun too you know, they’re such a nice bunch and it was a joy to make the film with them and it’s a joy to be able to do this stuff with them too.”

And as for awards season, McDonagh will be using the silver-lining approach to cope with any feelings of disappointment should he not get the prize on the night.

He explains: “I’m bad at public speaking, so I kind of I’m half happy when we lose so I don’t have to go up there. But no, it’s better to be in the mix than not to be in the mix. So, it’s weirdly both exciting and scary at the same time.”

You can watch the Academy Awards on Sunday 12 March from 11pm exclusively on Sky News and Sky Showcase. Plus, get all the intel from our Oscars special Backstage podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts, from Monday morning.

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Upskirted, assaulted, accused of faking their music skills: Why female DJs need to be ‘bulletproof’

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Upskirted, assaulted, accused of faking their music skills: Why female DJs need to be 'bulletproof'

To see Koven’s Katie Boyle perform live is beyond impressive. Hailing from Luton, she is one of the most influential women in drum ‘n’ bass today, an artist who pioneered the art of singing live while DJing. 

Although she’s now been doing it for 12 years, her vast knowledge doesn’t silence the trolls online.

“There is a real bad misogyny online against women,” she says of the industry, with plenty of critics refusing to “believe they’re doing what they say they’re doing, and that’s been quite a hard thing to combat”.

Koven is a duo. In the studio, Boyle collaborates with producer Max Rowat; live, she performs and mixes alone. They have just released their second album, Moments In Everglow.

Koven's Katie Boyle
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Koven (L-R): Max Rowat and Katie Boyle

While both Boyle and Rowat are equally involved in making tracks, a minority of very vocal fans still refuse to accept she does anything other than sing.

“I will always be accused of the male half doing more on anything to do with technology,” says Boyle. “The amount of comments [I get] to say, ‘she didn’t make this’. No explanation as to why they think that it is, just purely because [I’m] a woman, which is just mad.”

Koven (L-R): Max Rowat and Katie Boyle. Pic: Koven
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Koven’s Katie Boyle says she has had some ‘awful incidences’

While Boyle loves performing live, there are moments, she admits, where being one of the few women on the scene can feel unsafe.

“I’ve had some awful incidences,” she says. “I had someone run on stage and completely grab me, hand down my top, down my trousers, while I was on the stage, which is crazy because you think that’s happening in front of an audience. I mean, this guy literally had to be plied off me.

“That was when I did think, ‘I need to bring someone with me to most places’. I didn’t feel safe travelling around by myself.”

‘You get trolled for everything’

DJ Paulette. Pic: Paulette
Image:
DJ Paulette. Pic: Paulette

Sadly, Boyle isn’t alone. Over a 30-year career, DJ Paulette has scaled the heights of dance music fame, playing throughout Europe, with a residency back in the day at Manchester’s Hacienda.

“Let’s just say I have two towels on my rider and it’s not just because I sweat a lot,” she jokes, miming a whack for those around her.

“I’ve spent time in DJ booths where I’ve had a skirt on and people have been taking pictures up my skirt. People think upskirting is a joke… and I got fed up with it.” Wearing shorts, she says, she still ended with “people with their hands all over me”. Now, she sticks to trousers. “But we shouldn’t have to alter the way we look for the environment that we work in.”

She admits, in order to stick it out, she’s had to bulletproof herself. “You get trolled for everything, for the way you look – if you put on weight, if you’ve lost weight.”

Not only is the discourse towards female DJs different online, she says, she has also been repeatedly told by those working in the industry that because she’s a woman, she has a sell-by date.

“I went for dinner with three guys… one of them said to me, ‘you know Paulette there is no promoter or organiser who is ever going to employ a black female DJ with grey hair’, and they all laughed.

“That was them saying to me that my career was over, and I was in my 40s. At the time, I felt crushed… I think it really does take women who have a real steel will to make their way through.”

‘I will not stop talking about it’

DJ Jaguar at the International Music Summit in Ibiza. Pic: Ben Levi Suhling
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DJ Jaguar at the International Music Summit in Ibiza. Pic: Ben Levi Suhling

As the great and the good of the dance world gather in Ibiza for the industry’s annual International Music Summit, with dance music more popular than ever there is of course much to party about.

But for BBC Radio 1 broadcaster and DJ Jaguar, one of this year’s summit’s cohosts, some serious conversations also need to be had.

“You can get off the plane and look at the billboards around Ibiza and it’s basically white men – David Guetta, Calvin Harris, and they are incredible artists in their own right – but the women headliners, there’s barely any visibility of them, it’s awful.”

She adds: “I will not stop talking about it because it is the reality.”

Trolling and safety are also big concerns. “You’re in these green rooms, there’s a lot of people there, drinking and doing other things… and I’ve walked into green rooms where I felt incredibly uncomfortable, especially when I was a bit younger. I was on my own, it’s like 2am, and you have to watch yourself.”

Male DJs don’t have the same stories

International Music Summit in Ibiza
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The International Music Summit in Ibiza

She says she has female friends who have had drinks spiked when they were DJing. But her male friends? “They don’t have the same stories to tell me.”

Creamfields, arguably the UK’s biggest dance festival, is emblematic of the gender imbalance. It remains one of the least representative festivals in terms of female artists, with last year’s line-up more than 80% male.

Read more from Sky News:
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Laila MacKenzie, founder of Lady Of The House, a community that supports and tries to encourage more women into dance music, says the talent pipeline problem isn’t helped by the current discourse online.

“There is a real damaging factor how people can be really nasty online and really nasty in the media and how that actually may discourage and demotivate women from stepping forward into their talent,” she says.

In reality, for so many women working within dance music, the trolling can be so unpleasant that it’s drowning out the good.

“There is so much positivity and so many lovely and supportive people,” says Boyle. “But unfortunately it feels like the negative and the toxic energy is just louder sometimes.”

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Kim Kardashian’s Paris robbery trial: Everything you need to know

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Kim Kardashian's Paris robbery trial: Everything you need to know

In October 2016, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint – with jewellery worth millions of dollars stolen during the audacious heist in Paris.

It was the biggest robbery of an individual in France for more than 20 years – and made front pages around the world.

Now, almost a decade on, the case is finally coming to court.

Why has it taken so long? Will Kardashian give evidence? And who exactly are the “grandpa robbers” facing trial?

Here’s everything you need to know.

Pic: Rex Features
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Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery. Pic: Rex Features

What happened?

Two years after Kardashian and rapper Kanye West tied the knot in an ostentatious week-long celebration spanning Paris and Florence, the Kardashian-West clan were back in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week.

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Her then husband had returned to the US to pick up his Saint Pablo tour – but Kardashian, along with her sister Kourtney and various members of their entourage, remained in Paris, staying in an exclusive set of apartments so discreet they’ve been dubbed the No Address Hotel.

Nestled on Tronchet Street, just a stone’s throw from Place de l’Opéra, and close to the fashionable Avenue Montaigne, the Hotel de Pourtalès is popular with A-list stars staying in the French capital.

A stay in the Sky Penthouse, the suite occupied by Kardashian, will currently set you back about £13,000 a night.

Kardashian was staying at the Hotel de Pourtales
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Kardashian was staying at the Hotel de Pourtales

On the evening of 3 October, after attending a fashion show with her sister, Kardashian remained in the apartment alone while the rest of her convoy – including her bodyguard Pascal Duvier – went out for the night.

At about 2.30am, three armed men wearing ski masks and dressed as police forced their way into the apartment block – and according to investigators, they threatened the concierge at gunpoint.

Two of them are alleged to have forced the concierge to lead them to Kardashian’s suite. He later told police they yelled at him: “Where’s the rapper’s wife?”

Kardashian said she had been “dozing” on her bed when the men then entered her room.

She has said she believes her social media posts provided the alleged robbers with “a window of opportunity”.

“I was Snapchatting that I was home, and that everyone was going out,” she said in the months after the incident.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star vividly described the attack in a police report, as reported in the French weekly paper Le Journal du Dimanche.

“They grabbed me and took me into the hallway. They tied me up with plastic cables and taped my hands, then they put tape over my mouth and my legs.”

She said they pointed a gun at her, asking specifically for her ring and also for money.

Police guard the entrance to the building where Kim has been staying
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Police guard the entrance to the Hotel de Pourtalès the day after the robbery

Kardashian says they carried her into the bathroom and put her in the bathtub. She said she was wearing only a bathrobe at the time.

She had initially thought the robbers “were terrorists who had come to kidnap me”, according to a French police report taken in New York three months after the robbery.

Kardashian told officers: “I thought I was going to die.”

According to police, the robbers – who left the room after grabbing their haul, escaped on bicycles with items estimated to be worth about $10m (£7.5m), including a $4m (£3m) 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring from West.

After they had left, Kardashian said she escaped her restraints and went to find help. After speaking to detectives, she immediately returned to the US on a private jet and later hired a completely new security team.

Kim Kardashian shows off a ring on Instagram
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Kardashian shows off her $4m ring on Instagram

What was stolen?

As well as her engagement ring, Kardashian said the thieves took her large Louis Vuitton jewellery box, which she said contained “everything I owned”.

In police reports given to the French authorities at about 4.30am on the night of the alleged robbery, Kardashian listed these items as having been stolen:

• Two diamond Cartier bracelets
• A gold and diamond Jacob necklace
• Diamond earrings by Lauren Schwartz
• Yanina earrings
• Three gold Jacob necklaces
• Little bracelets, jewels and rings
• A Lauren Schwartz diamond necklace
• A necklace with six little diamonds
• A necklace with Saint spelt out in diamonds
• A cross-shaped diamond-encrusted Jacob cross
• A yellow gold Rolex watch
• Two yellow gold rings
• An iPhone 6 and a BlackBerry

Police recovered only the diamond-encrusted cross that was dropped by the robbers while leaving.

It’s likely the gold in the haul was melted down and resold, while the diamond engagement ring that is now so associated with the robbery would be far too recognisable to sell on the open market.

Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery. Pic: Rex Features
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Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery. Pic: Rex Features

What will happen in court?

The hearing will begin at the Court of Appeal of Paris – the largest appeals court in France – on 28 April and is scheduled to last a month.

It will consist of a presiding judge, two professional assessors, and six main jurors.

The hearing involves more than 2,000 documents and there are four civil parties.

Kardashian at the Balenciaga show on the day of the robbery. Pic: Rex Features
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Kardashian at the Balenciaga show on the day of the robbery. Pic: Rex Features

Who is being tried?

There were initially 12 defendants in the case, but one person has died and another has a medical condition that prevents their involvement. This means 10 people – nine men and one woman – are standing trial.

Five of them, who were all aged between 60 and 72 at the time of the incident, face armed robbery and kidnapping charges. They are:

• Yunice Abbas
• Aomar Ait Khedache
• Harminv Ait Khedache
• Didier Dubreucq
• Marc-Alexandre Boyer

Abbas, 72, has admitted his participation in the robbery. In 2021, he published a book about the robbery, titled I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian. In 2021, a court ruled he would not benefit financially from the book.

Aomar Ait Khedache, 69, known to French crime reporters as “Old Omar”, has also admitted participating in the heist but denies the prosecution’s accusation that he was the ringleader.

The remaining five defendants are charged with complicity in the heist or the unauthorised possession of a weapon. They are:

• Florus Heroui
• Gary Mader
• Christiane Glotin
• François Delaporte
• Marc Boyer

Among those, Mader was a VIP greeter who worked for the car company Kardashian used in Paris, and Heroui was a bar manager who allegedly passed on information about Kardashian’s movements.

With many of the accused now ageing and with various serious health conditions, and some having spent time in jail following their arrest, all are currently free under judicial supervision.

If found guilty, those accused of the more serious crimes could face 10 years to life imprisonment.

Pic: Rex Features
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Kardashian at the Off-White show three days before the robbery. Pic: Rex Features

Will Kardashian give evidence?

Yes.

Lawyer Michael Rhodes said Kardashian has “tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system” and “wishes for the trial to proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case”.

A trainee lawyer herself, Kardashian has become a high-profile criminal justice advocate in the US in recent years.

(R-L)Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Kris Jenner. Pic: Rex Features
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(R-L) Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Kris Jenner in the front row three days before the robbery. Pic: Rex Features

Why has it taken so long to come to court?

There was initially a manhunt after the robbery, with French police under pressure to prove that Paris’s security was not in question.

Just the year before in 2015, the capital had been shaken by terrorist attacks by Islamic militants, in which 130 people were killed, including 90 at a music event at the Bataclan theatre.

French police initially arrested 17 people in the Kardashian case in January 2017 – three months after the robbery – assisted by DNA traces found on plastic bands used to tie her wrists. Twelve people were later charged.

It was ordered to be sent to trial in 2021 – at a time when limited court proceedings were happening due to multiple COVID lockdowns, and France was holding its largest ever criminal trial over the November 2015 terror attacks.

Kardashian at the Givenchy show on the day of the robbery. Pic: Rex Features
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Kardashian at the Givenchy show on the day of the robbery. Pic: Rex Features

What has Kardashian said about the incident?

Kardashian has described the robbery as a “life-changing” moment. She took three weeks away from filming her reality TV show Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and took a three-month break from social media.

In a March 2017 episode titled Paris, Kardashian first spoke publicly about her ordeal.

She described first hearing a noise in her apartment, and calling out, thinking it was her sister and assistant: “At that moment when there wasn’t an answer, my heart started to get really tense. Like, you know, your stomach just kind of like, knots up and you’re like, ‘OK, what’s going on?’ I knew something wasn’t quite right.”

She went on: “They asked for money. I said, ‘I don’t have any money’. They dragged me out to the hallway on top of the stairs. That’s when I saw the gun, clear as day. I was looking at the gun, looking down back at the stairs. I was like, I have a split second in my mind to make this quick decision.

“Either they’re going to shoot me in the back or if I make it [down the stairs] and the elevator does not open in time or the stairs are locked, there’s no way out.”

Three months later, she told a Forbes Power Women’s Summit she had changed her approach to posting on social media: “They had followed my moves on social media, and they knew my every move and what I had.”

She added: “It was definitely a huge, huge, huge lesson for me to not show off some of the things that I have. It was a huge lesson to me to not show off where I go.

“It’s just changed my whole life, but I think for the better.”

West and Kardashian at the Off-White show three days before the robbery. Pic: Rex Features
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West and Kardashian at the Off-White show three days before the robbery. Pic: Rex Features

In October 2020, Kardashian told US interviewer David Letterman she feared she would be raped and murdered during the heist, and that her sister had been at the forefront of her mind during the incident.

Speaking on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Kardashian said: “I kept on thinking about Kourtney, I kept on thinking she’s going to come home and I’m going to be dead in the room and she’s going to be traumatised for the rest of her life if she sees me… I thought that was my fate.”

When speaking to French police about the impact the robbery had had on her three months after it, Kardashian said: “I think that my perception of jewellery now is that I am not as attached to it as I used to be. I don’t have the same feeling about it. In fact, I even think that it has become a bit of a burden to have the responsibility of such expensive jewels.

“There is nothing of sentimental value to compare with the act of going home and finding one’s children and one’s family.”

She went on to describe Paris as “not the right place” for her, and didn’t return to the French capital for two years following the robbery.

Kardashian has since said in a 2023 episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that she did not purchase any jewellery in the seven years following the robbery, kept no jewellery at her home and only wore items that are either borrowed or fake.

She said the realisation that material items don’t matter has made her “a completely different person in the best way”.

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The Magic Circle’s first female member fooled them into believing she was a man – how did she do it?

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The Magic Circle's first female member fooled them into believing she was a man - how did she do it?

How did one woman fool the most famous magic society on the planet?

Back in 1991, Sophie Lloyd pulled off the ultimate illusion, tricking the Magic Circle into thinking she was a man.

But over 30 years after being unceremoniously kicked out, the Circle has tracked down the former actress to apologise and reinstate her membership.

She told Sky News how returning feels like the society has “made good on something that was wrong”.

Sophie Lloyd, who tricked the Magic Circle into believing she was a man
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Sophie Lloyd, who tricked the Magic Circle into believing she was a man

How did she infiltrate that exclusive group that nowadays counts the likes of David Copperfield and Dynamo as members?

In March of that year, she took her entry exam posing as a teenage boy, creating an alter-ego called Raymond Lloyd.

“I’d played a boy before,” she explained, but “it took months of preparation” to secretly infiltrate the Circle’s ranks half a year before it would officially vote to let women in.

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“Really, going back 30 years, men’s clubs were like, you know, just something you accepted.”

The men-only rule had been in place since the Circle was formed in 1905. The thinking behind it being that women just couldn’t keep secrets.

Aware of the frustration of female magicians at the time, Lloyd felt she was up for the challenge of proving women could be as good at magic as the men.

The idea was, in fact, born out of a double act, thought up by a successful magician called Jenny Winstanley who’d wanted to join herself but wasn’t allowed.

She recognised the hoax would probably only work with a much younger woman posing as a teenage boy, and met Lloyd through an acting class.

Sophie Lloyd as teenage magician Raymond Lloyd. Pic: Sophie Lloyd
Image:
Sophie Lloyd as teenage magician Raymond Lloyd. Pic: Sophie Lloyd

Lloyd said: “We had to have a wig made… the main thing was my face, I had plumpers made on a brace to bring his jawline down.”

To hide her feminine hands, she did the magic in gloves, which she says “was so hard to do, especially sleight of hand.”

The biggest test came when she was invited for a drink with her examiner, where she had to fake having laryngitis.

“After the exam, which was 20 minutes, he invited Jenny and I – she played my manager – and I sat there for one hour and three quarters and had to say ‘sorry, I’ve got a bad voice’.”

Raymond Lloyd passed the test, and his membership certificate was sent through to Sophie.

Then, in October of the same year, when whispers started circulating that the society was going to open its membership to both sexes, she and Jenny decided to reveal all. It didn’t go down well.

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Rather than praise her performance, members were incandescent about the deception and, somewhat ironically, Raymond Lloyd was kicked out just before women members were let in.

Lloyd said: “We got a letter… Jenny was hurt… she was snubbed by people she actually knew, that was hurtful. However, things have really changed now…”

Three decades later the Magic Circle put out a nationwide appeal stating they wanted to apologise and Lloyd was recently tracked down in Spain.

While Jenny Winstanley died 20 years ago in a car crash, as well as Sophie receiving her certificate on Thursday, her mentor’s contribution to magic is being recognised at the special show that’s being held in both their honour at the Magic Circle.

Lloyd says: “Jenny was a wonderful, passionate person. She would have loved to be here. It’s for her really.”

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