The 2026 movie calendar brought Ben Affleck and Matt Damon back together in a big way with Netflix's The Rip, their recent crime thriller about Miami cops, cartel cash and trust slowly melting under pressure. The Damon-Affleck partnership has felt like one of Hollywood’s constants for decades, going back to their Good Will Hunting Oscar win and stretching through everything from Air to their work together at Artists Equity. But now, their latest collaboration has landed the two A-listers in the middle of a defamation case.
Per Entertainment Weekly, two officers from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, are suing Affleck and Damon’s company, Artists Equity, over how law enforcement characters are portrayed in the 2026 Netflix release. The lawsuit also names Falco Productions, Damon’s LLC production company, while Netflix, which distributed the movie, is not named as a defendant (and declined to comment).
The officers are not named in the film, but that appears to be the heart of the complaint. Smith and Santana argue that The Rip includes enough specific details from a real 2016 Miami-Dade investigation that viewers could reasonably connect the fictional characters to the real investigation.
The lawsuit claims the movie and its advertising imply “misconduct, poor judgment, and unethical behavior in connection with a real law enforcement operation.” The complaint says the portrayal has caused “substantial harm to their personal and professional reputations.” That is where the “inspired by true events” label starts doing some heavy lifting.
In The Rip, Damon plays Lt. Dane Dumars, and Affleck plays Detective Sgt. J.D. Byrne. The story follows the two after their unit discovers $20 million in cartel cash, which quickly opens the door to suspicion and corruption inside the Miami-Dade Police Department. The officers’ complaint claims the real-life inspiration was a June 2016 case in which Smith and Santana seized more than $21 million. The lawsuit argues that the film’s use of “unique, non-generic details” from that investigation, combined with the Miami-Dade setting and narcotics-team focus, creates a reasonable inference that the officers in the movie are meant to represent them.
Smith and Santana’s attorneys also point to specific fictional moments in the movie where characters bend police procedure, including a scene where Affleck’s character kills a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. The complaint says that aside from the large seizure itself, the events portrayed in The Rip did not happen.
The lawsuit also claims the fallout has reached the officers personally. According to the complaint, family members and colleagues allegedly made comments suggesting the officers must have used seized funds for home improvements, vehicles, boats and private schooling. Their attorneys argue those remarks show viewers are associating the real Miami-Dade officers with the movie’s corrupt portrayals.
The complaint says the officers’ lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter before The Rip was released in January 2026, asking the companies behind the film not to release it. After the movie came out, the defendants allegedly responded that the concerns were unfounded because the film did not expressly name Smith and did not imply either plaintiff engaged in misconduct.
Smith and Santana are seeking a public retraction and correction, including, as their lawyers describe, a prominent disclaimer added to the movie, per reports. They are also seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees.
Representatives for Affleck, Damon and Artists Equity have not responded publicly as of this writing. And for now, The Rip is still available to stream with a Netflix subscription.
