MIAMI (AP) — Two South Florida police officers have filed a defamation lawsuit against Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company, alleging that their recent action thriller “The Rip” incorporated too many real-life details from a past case, thereby damaging the officers’ personal and professional reputations.
Lawsuit Details
Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, sergeants in the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, lodged the lawsuit in Miami federal court earlier this month against Artists Equity, the film production company owned by Affleck and Damon. The court filings do not specify the amount the officers are seeking, but the civil complaint requests compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, as well as a public retraction and correction.
Film Inspiration
“The Rip” stars Affleck and Damon as South Florida police officers who discover millions of dollars inside a house. Parts of the movie were inspired by a real 2016 case, where police found over $21 million linked to a suspected marijuana trafficker in a Miami Lakes home.
An attorney for Artists Equity declined to comment when reached Monday by The Associated Press. However, in a March 19 response to the plaintiffs’ demand letter, Leita Walker, an attorney for Artists Equity, wrote that the film does not claim to tell the true story of that incident or depict real people, a point emphasized by a disclaimer in the film’s credits.
Plaintiffs' Claims
Although Smith and Santana are not named in the film, the lawsuit contends that Santana served as the lead detective on the real case, and Smith was the sergeant supervising the investigative team. The inclusion of specific real details about the case, the suit argues, creates the impression that the characters are based on the plaintiffs.
This has allegedly led friends, family members, and colleagues to believe that the plaintiffs committed the criminal acts portrayed in the film, which include conspiring to steal seized drug money, murdering a supervising officer, communicating with cartel members, committing arson in a residential neighborhood, endangering civilians, repeatedly violating law-enforcement protocols, and executing a federal agent instead of making an arrest.
Defense Argument
Walker wrote in March that the plaintiffs have not identified which specific character is supposed to be based on Smith or Santana. Therefore, even if “The Rip” were about a real-life narcotics team, there is no way to link any of the characters to the plaintiffs.
“The Rip,” directed by Joe Carnahan, debuted on Netflix in January and currently holds a 78% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
