"Two Miami sheriff's deputies have filed a lawsuit against Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, claiming the Hollywood actors' portrayal in a Netflix crime drama makes them look like dirty cops. The officers, Jonathan Santana and Jason Smith, deputies with the Miami-Dade county sheriff's office, are seeking defamation damages from the actors' production company Artists Equity."
"The Rip is a dramatization of a 2016 drugs bust on a private residence in Miami Lakes in which $24m cash was recovered. The money was found in 24 buckets containing a million dollars each hidden behind drywall in the property and represented the largest haul ever recovered by the Miami-Dade police department, which transitioned into a sheriff's office in January 2025."
"The Netflix movie, with Damon and Affleck in lead roles, presents a tale of temptation and trust, given the large sum of money in the immediate and unsupervised custody of a team of narcotics agents. The lawsuit's plaintiffs, who were part of the real-life team that made the bust on which the fictionalized account in the film was built, say The Rip portrays them in a negative light."
"When you rip something, you're stealing something, Santana told 7 News Miami, referring to the crime thriller's title. We never stole a dollar. [They're] pretty much saying, you know, how many buckets of money did I steal? It is not the first time The Rip, which was released in January, has angered members of the south Florida community."
Jonathan Santana and Jason Smith, Miami-Dade sheriff’s deputies, filed a defamation lawsuit seeking damages against Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Artists Equity. The claim centers on Netflix’s crime drama The Rip, which is based on a 2016 drugs bust at a private residence in Miami Lakes. During the real operation, $24 million in cash was recovered from 24 buckets hidden behind drywall, described as the largest haul recovered by the Miami-Dade police department. The fictionalized story involves temptation and trust around a large sum of money held by narcotics agents without supervision. The deputies say the film portrays them negatively and that they never stole any money. The Rip has also drawn criticism from local officials, including a mayor who called it a slap to law enforcement and emphasized that movies are fiction while police work defends residents and truth.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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