How a reporter crashed Diddy’s wild party posing as millionaire Ted Ammon and partied with Jay-Z

"For one night, 25 years ago and 35 pounds lighter, I took on the identity of millionaire financier Ted Ammon."

It was July 3, 1999, and I was a 22-year-old rookie reporter for the East Hampton Star. After a quick surf session at Mecox Beach in Bridgehampton, I overheard two men talking about needing to go home to “get ready for Puffy’s barbecue.”

At that time, long before his current sex trafficking indictment, the now-incarcerated hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was known as “Puff Daddy.” His star-studded parties were legendary.

Still smelling of the beach, I rushed to my 1991 Volkswagen Jetta and headed towards Diddy’s 4,500-square-foot waterfront mansion in East Hampton. My original goal was to simply stand outside and take notes on the arriving guests for a potential story.

I never could have imagined that I’d end up partying late into the night with hip-hop icons like Jay-Z and Hamptons regulars like designer Betsey Johnson.

Wearing a wrinkled shirt I found crumpled on my car’s back seat, I joined the crowd of fans, paparazzi, and onlookers gathered along Hedges Banks Drive.

“You wanna get in?” asked an attractive blonde who approached me.

“You know it,” I responded.

“Great. Listen,” she continued. “So, you’re name is Ted Ammon and I am your guest, cool?”

I nodded.

Just before speaking to me, the woman had spotted “Ted Ammon +1” on Puffy’s guest list while standing near one of the security guards.

“It was on the second page,” I remember her telling me proudly.

Eerily, Ammon would be found murdered in his Hamptons home about two years later, on October 22, 2001. He had been bludgeoned to death in his bed by his estranged wife’s electrician boyfriend. The high-society murder case made headlines for years.

After clearing security, the mystery woman headed straight for the backyard bar, passing the Mr. Softie truck parked in the driveway. I, however, didn’t make the same oversight.

R&B music blasted from 20 speakers positioned throughout the backyard, with Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest in the DJ booth. The air smelled of marijuana, and the pool was filled with naked and topless women, while models served champagne.