Two Miami-Dade police officers are suing Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for defamation, saying their film «The Rip» uses real-life details that damage their reputations, according to the Associated Press.
Sgts. Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana filed the lawsuit in federal court in Miami against Artists Equity, the production company owned by Affleck and Damon, asking for compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and a public retraction and correction.
The movie tells the story of two South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars in a house. It was partly inspired by a real 2016 case in which authorities found over $21 million connected to a suspected marijuana trafficker in a Miami Lakes home. The lawsuit says Santana was the lead detective on that case and Smith supervised the investigative team.
The officers are not named in the film and did not take part in its production, but the complaint alleges that certain details make it appear the characters are based on them. They claim this has caused friends, colleagues and others to believe they committed the serious crimes shown in the movie, such as stealing drug money, killing a supervising officer, working with cartel members, committing arson, putting civilians at risk and killing a federal agent.
In a written response, an attorney for Artists Equity said the film does not claim to depict real people and includes a disclaimer stating as much. The attorney also pointed out that the officers have not named any character as representing them, arguing that there is no clear connection between the film’s fictional characters and the officers.
