Jeffrey Deitch mistakes P. Diddy for Kanye West at Art Basel

Miami is the new Los Angeles – for Jeffrey Deitch, anyway.

Former Museum of Contemporary Art Director Deitch had a tumultuous run in L.A. before stepping down Sept. 1.

At Art Basel Miami this week, an event that draws celebs of all stripes in a glossy smashup of art, music and pop culture, Deitch kept things interesting – albeit unintentionally so.

When the New York art dealer ran into Sean “Diddy” Combs on the Miami Beach Convention Center floor Wednesday, he mistook the rapper for Kanye West – to his face.

One bystander, according to the New York Post’s Page Six, said: “Jeffrey said, ‘Hi, Kanye . . .,’ then immediately realized he’d made a mistake, and looked absolutely mortified. There was a moment while everybody held their breath, then Diddy burst out laughing. He took it really well.”

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Deitch blamed another art dealer for the mix up.

In an email to Page Six, he said: “There was a big crowd gathered at the entrance to an art fair booth. I asked the dealer what the commotion was about and she said, ‘Kanye is here.’ I could only see the person from the back, and went over to say ‘Hi Kanye.’ To my great embarrassment, it turned out to be P Diddy. He thought it was very funny, especially since we had spent several hours together visiting my street art show in Los Angeles.”

The foot-in-mouth circus might have been mutual, however. A writer for the art website Hyperallergic, who was there when the misstep happened, reports:

“The whole encounter was actually quite absurd and from what I overheard of their banter it sounded like Diddy thought Deitch was still in LA. Oh, when celebrities meet in public.”

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