Parkites, collectively, have experienced an untold number of brief but memorable celebrity moments during the decades the Sundance Film Festival has been held in the community.  That had to have been Tommy Lee Jones who just walked by on Main Street. And there’s no doubt it was Oprah Winfrey who was just led into a private event along the street. But was that really Sharon Stone nearly blending into a concert crowd? Or Bob Dylan blowin’ into Park City for a premiere screening? Celebrity sightings are commonplace during Sundance, as Hollywood gathers for the top marketplace of independent films in the U.S. and one of the elite festivals on the international circuit. There are stories across Park City about waiters and bartenders serving the famous, drivers shuttling them through the notorious Sundance traffic and staffers at hotels attempting to keep their whereabouts confidential with the paparazzi crawling around the festival. As Sundance is held in Park City for the final time before a move to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027, Parkite-meets-celebrity memories are likely being retold across the community. But few people in Park City have Sundance stories as thrilling as those that can be recounted by Rory Murphy and Michael Kaplan, longtime residents who, by happenstance, separately found themselves in the presence of two of the world’s most famous celebrities. An evening escorting Taylor Swift  Rory Murphy had a date scheduled on the opening night of Sundance in 2012. The prominent Park City developer, though, had to cancel. Murphy instead would escort one of the biggest celebrities at Sundance for an evening. Taylor Swift was already an entertainment phenomenon, and her presence at the festival overshadowed some of the top names in Hollywood. She was in Park City for a documentary called “Ethel,” a film about Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy. A publicist with the film spoke to a Sundance Institute trustee about Swift’s anticipated attendance at a dinner and discussion in Old Town. The trustee and Murphy knew each other through a lease agreement between the institute and the Silver Star project he developed. Murphy effectively served as the institute’s landlord, with Sundance, at that time, keeping its Utah offices at Silver Star. He was also the chair of the onetime Sundance Utah Advisory Board, a body that assisted the institute’s activities in the state. He was asked if he wanted to take Swift to the event. Murphy, at the time 47, accompanied the 22-year-old singer for nearly three hours. They talked about her creative process, her upbringing and his kids. Swift greeted the founder of Sundance, the late Robert Redford, and singer Mary J. Blige. People throughout the evening approached Swift to take pictures with her. Murphy at the time said Swift “could not have been a kinder, nicer, more gracious young lady. Truly.” “I confessed to her at one point in the evening I really didn’t listen to her music,” he said just afterward. “That was probably the only awkward moment between us.” Murphy, in an interview shortly before this year’s festival, recalled people “were just in awe over her.” “Even then, she was very, very popular,” he said, adding, “She was just so universally popular.” Murphy described the evening as a magical Sundance experience. “This old guy in Park City got to escort her to this opening-night dinner,” he said.  Murphy remembers Swift’s graciousness toward everyone she spoke to that night. Swift was “one of the nicest celebrities I ever had any interaction with,” he said. “She was just so kind, so intelligent and so poised, even at age 22,” he said. “I guess I’m not surprised she reached the level she did.” Michael Kaplan rented an Old Town place to Paris Hilton and her entourage during the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Kaplan briefly met the socialite hotel heiress and remembers her as a sweet person. He says the paparazzi attempted to find where she was staying. Credit: Courtesy of Michael Kaplan Paris Hilton has a Park City BFF Michael Kaplan, by the time Sundance began in 2009, still had an upper Norfolk Avenue duplex unit advertised for rent. A woman, seeming desperate, called during the opening weekend of the festival about the availability of the place for two nights. He was interested in a longer stay and was hesitant. They ultimately struck a deal for just the two nights. Kaplan, a now-retired marketing professor who has dabbled in Park City politics and once owned a Main Street bar, went to meet the guests without knowing much about them. Kaplan at the time described a limousine pulling up to the duplex and perhaps 20 pieces of luggage being removed from the vehicle. Some of the suitcases were decorated with a ‘P’ monogram, the first letter of the name of the person leading the entourage. Paris Hilton emerged from the limousine with the others traveling with her. “Imagine my surprise when the door opens and all these suitcases came out, and Paris Hilton,” he said in an interview before the 2026 film festival. Kaplan briefly met the socialite hotel heiress as she arrived and then left. He took a picture with her, thanked her for staying there, and gave her a copy of a travel book he had penned. Hilton and her entourage stayed in a unit with four bedrooms — designed to sleep up to 10 people — and 3 1/2 baths. It has a hot tub, a pool table and a sauna. Kaplan said the woman who initially called about the rental was a public-relations representative for Hilton. He initially quoted $1,250 per night. The person declined and the negotiating started. They agreed to a rate of $1,000 each night. “She definitely could have afforded the full price,” Kaplan said in jest at the time. “I’m slightly pissed off I let Paris Hilton talk me down on price.” Kaplan said he expected “a lot of attitude” before meeting Hilton, but described her at the time as being “actually very sweet.” “She has a reputation, I’m told, of being a wild party girl, and I was worried about my property,” he said shortly after the socialite left. The entourage opened gifts, leaving wrapping paper and boxes, but they did not trash the place, he said. He recalled that the paparazzi saw her vehicle headed to the Norfolk Avenue rental. Some later went through garbage in an attempt to find the place where she was staying, Kaplan said. He described Hilton as “sweet” but in a rush. “It was a fleeting moment to rub elbows with the rich and famous stars,” Kaplan said. 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