Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are facing a defamation lawsuit from two Miami-Dade police officers over their Netflix crime thriller The Rip.
The legal action was filed by deputies Jonathan Santana and Jason Smith, who claim the film closely mirrors a real-life drug investigation they were involved in and falsely portrays them as corrupt officers.
Although neither deputy is named directly in the movie, the lawsuit argues that the characters played by Damon and Affleck are so heavily linked to the real officers and the 2016 case that viewers could reasonably identify them.
According to court documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly, the officers claim the film and its marketing imply “misconduct, poor judgment, and unethical behaviour in connection with a real law enforcement operation.”
Ben Affleck. DFree, Shutterstock
The Rip, which was released on Netflix in January, stars Damon and Affleck as members of a Miami narcotics unit who uncover millions of dollars in cartel cash before becoming consumed by greed, paranoia and corruption.
The film was written and directed by Joe Carnahan and developed with Michael McGraw, drawing inspiration from stories shared by longtime Miami-Dade police captain Chris Casiano, who also worked as a technical adviser on the project.
The lawsuit centres on a real incident from June 2016, when more than $20 million was seized during a South Florida drug bust after cash was discovered hidden inside an attic.
According to the filing, Santana served as lead detective on the case while Smith supervised the investigative team.
The deputies argue that the film uses “unique, non-generic details” from the real investigation, including the Miami setting, narcotics squad structure and stash-house discovery, making it easy for viewers familiar with the case to connect the fictional characters to them.
The complaint also points to scenes in the movie where officers allegedly bend rules and engage in criminal conduct, including one sequence where Affleck’s character reportedly kills a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
The officers say the portrayal has caused “substantial harm” to both their personal and professional reputations.
Speaking to 7 News Miami, Santana denied any wrongdoing linked to the real case.
“When you rip something, you’re stealing something,” he said.
“We never stole a dollar.”
He also claimed colleagues who watched the movie have jokingly questioned him about stealing money from the drug bust.
“How many buckets of money did you steal?” he said he had been asked.
The lawsuit does not specify an amount in damages but seeks compensatory and punitive damages, legal fees, as well as a public retraction and correction.
The deputies also argue that the production should have involved and compensated them as consultants if the filmmakers intended to draw from their experiences.
Instead, they claim only Captain Casiano — who was not directly involved in the 2016 investigation — was hired as an adviser.
Their lawyer, Ignacio Alvarez, said his clients now face lasting reputational damage.
“My clients are now hurt for the rest of their lives with everybody perceiving that they’re dirty,” he told local media.
However, lawyers representing Artists Equity, the production company founded by Damon and Affleck, have rejected the allegations.
In a response to the deputies’ legal demand, attorney Leita Walker argued that the film does not claim to tell the true story of the 2016 drug bust or portray real-life individuals.
She also pointed to a disclaimer included in the film’s credits stating that the story is fictionalised.
The case is likely to raise wider questions around how closely films based on real events can mirror identifiable people and investigations without exposing filmmakers to defamation claims.
