Ben Affleck, Matt Damon’s Artist Equity sued over The Rip

Ben Affleck and Matt DamonHis company, Artists Equity, is hit with a lawsuit alleging defamation by two Miami law enforcement officials who inspired its film tear.

according to a report entertainment weeklypublished on Saturday, May 9, Jason Smith and Jonathan SantanaTwo officers with the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office are suing the actors’ production company over their performance in the Netflix film, which was created by Artists Equity and released Jan. 16.

As the outlet noted, Smith and Santana were not mentioned or mentioned by name in the film, but the lawsuit alleges that the performances of Affleck, 53, and Damon, 55, were “so closely associated with the two officers” that the film “caused serious damage to their personal and professional reputations.”

US Weekly Artists Equity and representatives for Affleck and Damon have been contacted for comment.

The suit, which is reportedly seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees, is the result of the film and its advertising suggesting “misconduct, poor judgment and unethical conduct related to real law enforcement operations,” the outlet said.

The lawsuit reportedly accuses “Damon’s LLC production company Falco Productions of per se defamation and implied defamation.” Officials also allegedly filed a charge of “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

Damon and Affleck play Lieutenant Dane Dumas and Sheriff J.D. Byrne respectively. tear. The show follows their journey as they discover $20 million in cartel cash and subsequently expose corruption within the Miami-Dade Police Department. As was widely reported at the time of the film’s release, the plot is based on the true story of a Miami police officer Chris Cassiano In 2016, he was serving as leader of the bureau’s tactical narcotics team when the cash stash was discovered.

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Smith and Santana’s lawsuit details that the pair “withheld more than $21 million in June 2016” as part of the campaign, the outlet reported. The two reportedly claimed that “the film uses unique, non-generic details of the June 29, 2016 investigation that, combined with the context of Miami-Dade County and the drug squad’s portrayal, make it reasonable to infer that the officer depicted is the complainant.”

The lawsuit also alleges that attorneys for Smith and Santana sent a letter to the company responsible for the film “enumerating the allegedly defamatory details in the film and requesting that they cease distribution of the film in December 2025.”

According to the lawsuit, representatives for the companies claimed “after the film’s release” that the concerns were “unfounded because the film did not explicitly name Sergeant Smith and did not imply that Plaintiffs engaged in any inappropriate conduct in the film.”