Miami Police Chase Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

• The film The Rip, featuring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, was released earlier this year on Netflix.
• It follows two Miami-Dade Police Department officers who uncover a corruption network tied to $20 million from a cartel.
• Two officers from the real department have now filed a defamation lawsuit.

Starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, the film The Rip puts them on screen in the roles of two officers with the Miami-Dade Police Department who uncover the existence of a corruption network within their organization, linked to $20 million siphoned from a cartel.

Two-time Academy Award winners Affleck and Damon star in this film as officers who discover a web of corruption within their own agency, a case that ties back to more than $20 million siphoned from a cartel.

Recently, Affleck and Damon have found themselves facing a defamation lawsuit. In fact, two deputies from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, filed a lawsuit against the production company Artists Equity, founded by Affleck and Damon, in connection with this Netflix title.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the two deputies contend that the characters portrayed by Affleck and Damon in the feature would harm their personal and professional reputations. They argue that the film, along with its promotion, implies improper conduct, a lapse in judgment, and unethical behavior in connection with a real police operation.

In the film, the characters played by Affleck and Damon, who portray police officers, break the rules, including a scene in which Affleck’s character shoots a DEA agent.

Again according to Entertainment Weekly, the plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that when they sought clarifications after the film’s January 2026 release, the defendants replied that their concerns were unfounded since the feature does not explicitly name Sergeant Smith and does not at any point imply that the plaintiffs committed wrongdoing.

Beyond the Fiction

In their complaint, Smith and Santana assert that a real operation carried out in June 2016, during which more than $21 million was seized, served as the film’s inspiration, which even opens with the line “inspired by true events.” While their names do not appear in the work, they believe they are indirectly depicted.

The court document notes that the use of specific details tied to the June 29, 2016 investigation, combined with the Miami-Dade setting and the depiction of a narcotics unit, would reasonably lead to the conclusion that the officers depicted correspond to the plaintiffs.

Their Demands

Smith and Santana’s lawyers are seeking not only a formal retraction but also a public correction from the defendants to rectify what they view as defamatory claims. They also want the film to carry a clear and prominent disclaimer in the credits stating that the events and characters do not reflect any real, identifiable individuals.

Beyond these requests, the two officers are seeking both compensatory and punitive damages for the harm suffered, as well as the full reimbursement of their legal fees. According to Entertainment Weekly, these measures aim to repair the reputational harm they say has resulted from the film’s release.