`She tried to kill me,' Rob Kardashian says of Blac Chyna

Rob Kardashian testified Wednesday that he feared for his life during a celebration-turned argument nine days before Christmas 2016 with then-fiancee Blac Chyna at the home they shared that was provided to them rent-free by Kylie Jenner.

Kardashian, 34, said Chyna, 33, put a gun to his head twice, tried to strangle him with a phone cord and hit him all over his body with a six-foot metal rod.

"She tried to kill me," an often-agitated Kardashian said while answering questions from Chyna's lawyer, Lynne Ciani, who asked him not to refer to Chyna as "your client," but instead as "Chyna" or "Ms. White." Chyna's real name is Angela Renee White.

Kardashian, in turn, repeatedly told Ciani to stop calling the metal rod a pole.

Despite the violence he maintains occurred the night of Dec. 14, 2016 - - which started as a celebration of what they thought was a renewal for a second season of their reality show, "Rob & Chyna" -- Kardashian said he did not report what happened to the sheriff's department, believing that as the mother of his then-newborn child he should keep the problems between them. The child, Dream Renee, is now 5 years old.

"I always tried to protect her even when she has a gun to my head," Kardashian said, explaining that he even skipped a baby shower thrown by his family because Chyna did not want to go. He said he instead went to a baby shower put on by Chyna's friends.

Kardashian said he and Chyna became acquainted "probably at the lowest point in my entire life" after he'd been hospitalized with health issues.

"She was the one person who kind of brought me in," he said.

Kardashian's mother, Kris Jenner, 66, is a defendant along with three of Rob Kardashian's siblings -- Kim Kardashian, 41, Khloe Kardashian, 37, and Kylie Jenner, 24 -- in the trial of Chyna's Los Angeles Superior Court defamation lawsuit. Khloe and Kylie were not present in court Wednesday.

The complaint alleges the quartet lied when telling E! network executives that Chyna assaulted Rob Kardashian, now 34, because they wanted the network to cancel a second season of "Rob & Chyna," which dealt with the ups and downs of the formerly engaged couple and had already begun filming before the plug was indeed pulled.

Chyna maintains their relationship ended in the summer of 2017, but the defendants say Chyna acknowledged in a written declaration that the two split in December 2016, meaning the second season could not have gone forward because of the breakup.

Rob Kardashian told jurors the relationship between him and Chyna was not what it appeared to be on "Rob & Chyna," even though they became engaged in March 2016.

"It was never a real type of love or else we would have been married," he said.

He said the December 2016 night started off in a playful manner, but Chyna became violent.

"She was on cocaine and alcohol," he said.

He also claimed she had abused him previously.

"This is something I'm very used to," he said.

He said he did not try to defend himself so as to avoid harming Chyna, who is about 10 inches shorter than him and considerably lighter. He bristled when Ciani asked him about images taken after the incident showing he had no marks or bruises, even though he says Chyna hit him all over his body with the rod. He said any marks could have disappeared by the next day.

Rob Kardashian said he went on a hike with Chyna on New Year's Day 2017 and had a good time, but that he did not feel the same way when he subsequently flew to New York with her so she could make an appearance at a strip club.

"I wasn't happy," he said.

Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian showed no emotion as they listened to Rob's testimony.

Chyna maintains that during the December 2016 fight, she did nothing more than damage a television that belonged to Kylie Jenner and two gingerbread house decorations. She said she was being playful with the gun.

In February 2020, Judge Randolph Hammock severed from the current suit Chyna's revenge porn claim against Rob Kardashian and directed that it be tried separately. The claim involves what Chyna's court papers call "humiliating and degrading" photos that Rob Kardashian allegedly posted of Chyna in July 2017. A separate jury will hear that case after the conclusion of the current proceedings.

The current trial is being presided over by Judge Gregory Alarcon.