Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are being sued by Florida police officers for defamation over their film, “The Rip,” which was inspired by a real case. The Plaintiffs are claiming their reputations as officers of the law have been tarnished due to how they were depicted in the action/thriller movie, which was released on Netflix in January 2026. “The Rip” stars Damon and Affleck in the lead roles, and it was produced by Artists Equity, the production company founded by the two actors.
Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office officers, Jonathan Santana and Jason Smith, filed a lawsuit against Matt Damon and Ben Affleck through their production company, Artists Equity, citing defamation per se and defamation by implication over “The Rip,” as stated in a complaint obtained by Entertainment Weekly.
Per the filing, “The Rip” was inspired by the 2016 case known as the Miami Lakes drug case, in which officers, including Santana and Smith, seized more than $21 million (as much as $24 million in some reports) in cash during a drug bust, the largest sum of money retrieved in Miami-Dade history.
Santana and Smith were not named in the movie, but they claim that Damon and Affleck’s characters are closely linked to them, and viewers could infer the roles were based on their lives. In the movie, however, they say the majority of the events did not happen in real life.
‘The Rip’ Took Creative Liberties
“The Rip” stars Damon and Affleck as Lt. Dane Dumars and Det. Sgt. J.D. Byrne. It follows a group of officers who uncover a massive stash of cash, testing their loyalty and trust, and unraveling corruption within the Miami-Dade Police Department. The film also features Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, and Catalina Sandino Moreno.
The movie states it was inspired by real events, but the Plaintiffs say in their complaint that the only fact in the movie was “a large seizure occurred.” Apart from that, “the events portrayed in the film did not happen.”
Santana and Smith claim that because of “The Rip,” their integrity has been questioned by friends and colleagues. “Viewers are associating the Miami-Dade Police Department and Plaintiffs with the corrupt portrayals in ‘The Rip,’” the filing noted.
The Real Case Behind Matt Damon And Ben Affleck’s Movie
In June 2016, a group of police officers conducted a raid in a Miami Lakes home, in which they discovered more than $21 million in cash concealed in five-gallon buckets. The buckets were discovered hidden in the home’s attic. Two siblings and suspected marijuana traffickers, Luis Hernandez-Gonzalez and Salma Hernandez, were arrested in connection with the raid.
In an interview with 7 News Miami, Santana said, “When you rip something, you’re stealing something. We never stole a dollar.” The deputy said that he was praised for his work 10 years ago, but has been the subject of jokes since “The Rip” came out. “Pretty much saying, you know, how many buckets of money did I steal?”
The complaint also enumerated several scenes in the film in which the characters blurred moral and professional boundaries, including one in which Affleck’s character kills a DEA agent.
The Plaintiffs Sent A Cease-And-Desist Letter
The filing also claims that Santana and Smith’s attorneys sent the production company a cease-and-desist letter in December, asking that it not release “The Rip.” They alleged that they received a response after the film was already released on Netflix on January 16, stating their claims are “unfounded.”
The response further noted, “The film did not expressly name Sergeant Smith and there was no implication that the Plaintiffs engaged in any misconduct in the film.” The Plaintiffs’ attorney, Ignacio Alvarez, said, “They portrayed police officers as dirty, they portrayed my clients as dirty. Now their reputations are hurt.”
Matt Damon And Ben Affleck Did Their Research
In a January interview with TODAY, Damon and Affleck shared how they spent time in Miami with real officers to prepare for the film and conduct research. They also revealed that some of the officers appeared in the movie in supporting roles.
“The Rip” writer and director Joe Carnahan said the movie was inspired by his friend, Chris Casiano, who showed him photos of a raid he and his team conducted. “When he showed me the photographs of containers in the wall that they sledgehammered out, I went, ‘Wow,’” Carnahan told Gold Derby, adding that he thought that officers counting millions of dollars in cash would be cinematic.
Damon and Affleck’s attorneys have yet to respond to the lawsuit.
