Miami police are suing Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for slander about their recently released Netflix film, The Rip.
The two actors play two police officers who uncover corruption within the Miami-Dade Police Department after finding $20 million in cartel money in their most recent film, which is produced by their own firm, Artists Equity.
However, a recent lawsuit has accused Damon, 55, and Affleck, 53, of disparaging the genuine people who supposedly served as the story’s inspiration.
Although they aren’t specifically referenced in the movie, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana are suing Artists Equity and Ben and Matt’s LLC production business Falco Productions over how law enforcement characters are portrayed in The Rip.
The complaint claims that Lt. Dane Dumars (Damon) and Detective Sgt. J.D. Byrne (Affleck) are so closely linked to Jason and Jonathan that their representation has caused “substantial harm to their personal and professional reputations,” according to documents acquired by Entertainment Weekly.
The film and its commercials, according to them, “imply misconduct, poor judgement, and unethical behaviour in connection with a real law enforcement operation.”
Miami police are suing Ben Affleck (L) and Matt Damon (R) for defamation about their recent Netflix film, The Rip.
The officers have filed a lawsuit for intentional infliction of mental distress in addition to defamation per se and defamation by implication.
The complaint claims that because The Rip is based on a real-life event in June 2016 in which Jason and Jonathan seized over $21 million, “the film’s use of unique, non-generic details of the June 29, 2016, investigation, combined with its Miami-Dade setting and portrayal of a narcotics team, creates a reasonable inference that the officers depicted are Plaintiffs.”
The complaint focused on several instances in the film where characters violate protocol, such as a sequence in which Ben’s alter ego murders a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent.
The complaint contended that aside from “the fact that a large seizure occurred, the events portrayed in the film did not happen,” despite the movie’s opening language stating that the project was “inspired by true events.”
In a recent lawsuit, Damon, 57, and Affleck, 53, are accused of disparaging the actual individuals who supposedly served as the story’s inspiration (seen in the film).
Because of what they observed in the film, the cops’ relatives and coworkers are said to have suggested that they “must have used seized funds to complete personal property improvements, purchase vehicles and vessels, and afford private schooling for their children.”
As a result, the attorneys for Jason and Jonathan claimed that “viewers are associating the Miami-Dade Police Department and Plaintiffs with the corrupt portrayals in The Rip.”
The lawsuit claims that prior to commencing legal action, the two men submitted a letter to the production companies outlining the allegedly defamatory elements and requesting that they “cease and desist from releasing” it in December 2025.
However, the defendants apparently did not reply until after The Rip was released in January of this year, at which point they claimed that the “concerns are unfounded because the film did not expressly name Sergeant Smith and there was no implication that the Plaintiffs engaged in any misconduct in the film.”
In addition to “a public retraction and correction,” which includes “the addition of a prominent disclaimer” to the film, the men are requesting damages and legal fees.
The reps of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been approached by Daily Mail for comment.
