Ben Affleck and Matt Damon‘s company, Artists Equity, is facing a defamation lawsuit involving two Miami law enforcement officers who were inspirations for the film The Rip.
According to a report by Entertainment Weekly, published on Saturday, May 9, Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, officers from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, have filed a lawsuit against the actors’ production company. They claim their portrayals in the Netflix film, produced by Artists Equity and released on January 16, were defamatory.
The report highlights that while Smith and Santana are not explicitly named in the movie, the lawsuit contends that performances by Affleck, 53, and Damon, 55, are closely linked to the officers, allegedly causing significant damage to their reputations both personally and professionally.
Us Weekly has sought comments from Artists Equity and representatives for Affleck and Damon regarding the lawsuit.
Entertainment Weekly notes that the lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees. It accuses the film and its marketing of suggesting “misconduct, poor judgment, and unethical behavior” related to an actual law enforcement operation.
The lawsuit further accuses “Damon’s LLC production company Falco Productions of defamation per se and defamation by implication,” with additional claims of “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
In The Rip, Damon and Affleck portray Lieutenant Dane Dumars and Detective Sergeant JD Byrne, respectively. The storyline follows their characters after discovering $20 million in cartel cash, leading to revelations of corruption within the Miami-Dade Police Department. The plot draws on the true story of Miami police officer Chris Casiano, who was the head of the department’s Tactical Narcotics Team in 2016 when a large sum of money was discovered.
The lawsuit filed by Smith and Santana describes their role in seizing more than $21 million in June 2016. They claim the film’s unique depiction of the June 29, 2016, investigation, combined with its Miami-Dade setting and portrayal of a narcotics team, suggests that they are the individuals portrayed in the film.
The lawsuit also states that Smith and Santana’s attorneys sent a letter to the film’s creators detailing the alleged defamatory elements and demanded that the film’s release be halted by December 2025.
According to the lawsuit, a representative for the production companies responded only after the film’s release, arguing that the officers’ concerns were baseless since the film did not explicitly name Sergeant Smith or imply any misconduct by the plaintiffs.
