Well-known actors and producers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck find themselves in the center of a legal battle. Two detectives from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office filed a lawsuit against Artists Equity, the actors' production company, alleging defamation and damages to their reputation due to the Netflix movie, “The Rip.”

According to Page Six, the lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Florida, claims that the tape —promoted as “inspired by real facts”— uses specific details from a 2016 drug operation led by agents Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana.

In that operation, 22 million dollars were seized hidden in orange buckets behind a false wall in a home in Miami Lakes.

Although the film recreates iconic elements of the case, the plaintiffs argue that the script adds fictional plots of unethical behavior, theft of seized money, links to cartels and murders.

According to officials, these depictions have caused colleagues, family and the general public to mistakenly identify them with the corrupt characters played by Damon and Affleck.

“They presented the officers as dirty, and my clients never stole a single dollar,” declared Ignacio Álvarez, the plaintiffs'attorney.

The agents' defense maintains that, before the premiere in January 2026, a cease-and-desist letter was sent requesting changes to the narrative, which was ignored.

Detectives are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for direct defamation, defamation by implication, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Although Netflix distributed the film, the platform has not been included in the litigation. So far, neither Damon nor Affleck have issued official statements about the case.