Actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are being targeted in a lawsuit by Miami Police for defamation over their new movie ‘The Rip’.
The two actors’ latest movie- which is produced by their own company, Artists Equity – sees them play two police officers who uncover corruption within the Miami-Dade Police Department after discovering $20 million of cartel cash.
Now a new lawsuit has accused Damon, 55, and Affleck, 53, of defaming the real people who allegedly inspired the tale.
Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana are officers in the Miami-Dade Sherrif’s Office, and while they are not mentioned by name in the film, they are suing Artists Equity and Ben and Matt’s LLC production company Falco Productions over the depiction of law enforcement characters in The Rip.
According to documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly, the lawsuit argues Lt. Dane Dumars (Damon) and Detective Sgt. J.D. Byrne (Affleck) are so heavily associated with Jason and Jonathan that their portrayal has resulted in ‘substantial harm to their personal and professional reputations’.
It is claimed that the movie and its advertisements ‘imply misconduct, poor judgment, and unethical behaviour in connection with a real law enforcement operation.’
According to the complaint, The Rip is inspired by a real-life incident in June 2016, when Jason and Jonathan seized more than $21 million, an so they argued ‘the film’s use of unique, non-generic details of the June 29, 2016, investigation, combined with its Miami-Dade setting and portrayal of a narcotics team, creates a reasonable inference that the officers depicted are Plaintiffs.’
