It sounds like a bad movie script. One of those straight-to-streaming thrillers where a billionaire superstar gets a call from the police telling her that her life has a literal price tag on it. But for Kim Kardashian, this became a very real, very terrifying Tuesday in late 2025.
If you’ve been scrolling through social media lately, you’ve probably seen the frantic clips from The Kardashians Season 7. Kim is crying. She’s talking to her family about investigators. She’s saying the words "hit" and "extremely close to me."
Naturally, the internet went into a tailspin. Was it an ex? A former employee? A rival? People were ready to point fingers at anyone who had ever crossed her path. But as the episodes aired and the dust settled, the reality of who put a hit on Kim Kardashian turned out to be less about a murderous vendetta and more about a cruel, calculated scam.
The Call That Changed Everything
Basically, Kim found herself in the middle of a bizarre extortion plot. She revealed on the show that she received a tip from an attorney who was hearing rumblings from inside the prison system. The message was simple: Someone you know has put out a contract on your life.
For about a week, Kim lived in a state of absolute hyper-vigilance. She switched out her cars. She stopped driving certain routes. She barely left the house. Imagine trying to study for the California Bar exam—something she was doing at the exact same time—while wondering if the person standing next to you is waiting for a signal.
"I am terrified out of my mind," she told the cameras. And honestly, who wouldn't be?
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The scary part wasn't just the threat; it was the "extremely close" part. That phrasing implies a level of betrayal that's hard to recover from. It makes you look at every friend, every assistant, and every family member differently. For a few days, the world was convinced we were about to see a massive celebrity arrest.
Was It Real or Just a Shakedown?
Here is where the story takes a sharp turn. After the initial panic, investigators and Kim’s security team dug deeper. They eventually realized the whole thing was a fabrication.
The "hit" wasn't actually a hit.
Instead, it was a complex scam designed to make Kim feel indebted to the people "protecting" her or "tipping" her off. Essentially, the person behind it wanted to create a crisis so they could be the hero who solved it—likely for a massive payout.
Kim later admitted to producers that the threat "wasn't real" in the way she first feared. The perpetrator just wanted money and figured the best way to get it was to weaponize Kim’s existing trauma from her 2016 Paris robbery. It’s a sick kind of psychological warfare. You take someone who has already been held at gunpoint and you tell them it's happening again, but this time, the call is coming from inside the house.
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The Ghost of the 2016 Paris Heist
You can't really talk about why Kim reacted so strongly without looking at the 2016 Paris jewelry heist. That event is the "why" behind her current security measures.
In May 2025, the trial for the "Grandpa Robbers" finally concluded in Paris. This wasn't some shadowy hit; it was a group of career criminals in their 60s and 70s—like Aomar Ait Khedache and Yunice Abbas—who targeted her because she was "Snapchatting that she was home" while everyone else went out.
They tied her up. They put a gun to her head. They left her in a bathtub.
So, when Kim gets a call in 2025 saying there’s a hit on her, her brain doesn't go to "this might be a scam." It goes to "it's happening again." The trauma from Paris is the lens through which she views her safety now. Even though the 2025 hit was fake, the fear it triggered was 100% genuine.
Why People Thought It Was Kanye or an Inner Circle Member
Because Kim used the phrase "someone extremely close to me," the rumor mill immediately went into overdrive. People love a villain, and the internet tried to cast Kanye West in that role.
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Let's be clear: There is zero evidence for that.
Kanye did claim back in 2022 that Kim accused him of putting a hit on her, but those were his words, not hers. During the 2025 "hit" scare, his name was never officially linked to the investigation. The "someone close" turned out to be a reference to the scammer's claim, not necessarily a confirmed family member.
The Kardashians live in a fishbowl. When you have that much wealth and that much visibility, you become a target for every grifter and con artist with a halfway decent story. This wasn't a mafia-style execution plot; it was a high-stakes "pig butchering" scam aimed at the most famous woman in the world.
How to Protect Your Own "Circle"
Most of us aren't billionaires, but the tactics used against Kim—extortion, fear-mongering, and exploiting personal information—are used against regular people every day.
- Audit your digital footprint. Kim’s 2016 robbery happened because she posted her location in real-time. If you’re traveling or at a high-profile event, wait until you leave to post those photos.
- Vetting "insider" information. If someone comes to you with a "secret" threat or a "crisis" that only they can solve, be skeptical. Scammers often use urgency to stop you from thinking clearly.
- Invest in mental health. Kim’s reaction showed how old trauma can be triggered by new threats. Protecting your peace is just as important as protecting your property.
The mystery of who put a hit on Kim Kardashian didn't end with a dramatic arrest because the crime itself was an illusion. It was a phantom threat created by a greedy opportunist. But the lesson remains: in the world of the ultra-famous, sometimes the biggest danger isn't a gunman—it's the person who knows exactly how to make you afraid.
If you are worried about your own personal security or digital privacy, your next move should be to enable two-factor authentication on all social media accounts and review who has access to your location sharing settings. Check your "Find My" or Google Maps "Location Sharing" lists today to ensure no one is tracking your movements without your knowledge.