{"id":576190,"date":"2026-05-10T09:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/576190\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T09:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:47:11","slug":"matt-damon-and-ben-affleck-sued-by-miami-police-for-allegedly-depicting-them-as-dirty-in-netflix-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/576190\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Damon and Ben Affleck sued by Miami police for allegedly depicting them as \u2018dirty\u2019 in Netflix film"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/films\/news\/netflix-matt-damon-ben-affleck-the-rip-dialogues-rumour-b2902954.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Damon and Ben Affleck<\/a> are being sued through their production company, Artists Equity, over their latest Netflix crime thriller, The Rip, which Miami police allege falsely depicts them as \u201cdirty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Released in January, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/films\/news\/matt-damon-ben-affleck-the-rip-crew-bonus-b2900892.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the movie, starring Damon and Affleck, opens with a disclaimer that it is \u201cinspired by true events.\u201d <\/a>Writer and director Joe Carnahan has previously discussed that it was based on the 2016 Miami Lakes narcotics raid, during which the Miami-Dade Police Department \u2014 now known as the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Department \u2014 seized more than $24 million in laundered cash, marking the largest money forfeiture in Miami-Dade history.<\/p>\n<p>In a new lawsuit, multiple officers involved in the original 2016 bust have claimed that the film has caused \u201cunfair reputational harm,\u201d according to local outlet <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/entertainment\/netflix-film-depicting-miami-lakes-drug-bust-damaged-reputation-of-mdso-deputies-lawsuit-alleges\/\">7 News Miami<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the outlet, Jonathan Santana, the lead detective of the 2016 case, said: \u201cWhen you rip something, you\u2019re stealing something. We never stole a dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Santana said that while he was previously praised for his work on the 10-year-old case, since The Rip\u2019s premiere, he has been mocked by people, \u201cpretty much saying, you know, how many buckets of money did I steal?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/RIP_20241205_WP_06997_R.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Ben Affleck (left) and Matt Damon (right) co-led \u2018The Rip,\u2019 which is based on the 2016 Miami-Dade drug bust\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Ben Affleck (left) and Matt Damon (right) co-led \u2018The Rip,\u2019 which is based on the 2016 Miami-Dade drug bust (Netflix)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/films\/news\/ben-affleck-the-rip-lina-esco-b2902951.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The film <\/a>sees Damon and Affleck reunite on-screen as the lead officers conducting the drug raid. After discovering the enormous sum of cash, the team\u2019s alliance and trust are tested. Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Scott Adkins and Steven Yeun also feature. <\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit also alleges that The Rip included fabricated storylines to portray police corruption, cartel dealings and even murder. The complaint cites numerous scenes from the film, including moments in which officers deceive suspects, maintain direct contact with the cartel and consider illegally pocketing a portion of the uncovered money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey portrayed police officers as dirty, they portrayed my clients as dirty,\u201d Santana\u2019s lawyer, Ignacio Alvarez, argued. \u201cNow their reputations are hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Matt-Damon-and-Ben-Affleck.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\u2018The Rip\u2019 has been accused of causing reputational harm to the real-life officers involved in the 2016 Miami-Dade narcotics raid\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>\u2018The Rip\u2019 has been accused of causing reputational harm to the real-life officers involved in the 2016 Miami-Dade narcotics raid (Claire Folger\/Netflix)<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cMy clients are now hurt for the rest of their lives with everybody perceives that they\u2019re dirty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Independent has contacted Alvarez and Artists Equity for comment. <\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time The Rip has faced backlash. Immediately following the movie\u2019s release, Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo argued that it portrayed his city as dangerous and disrespected his law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Although the film is inspired by the events in Miami Lakes, it is set in Hialeah, a city located northwest of Miami. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know Hialeah has been the butt of the joke for a long time,\u201d Calvo said during a press conference at the time. \u201cBut that ends now. This movie is a slap in the face to our law enforcement personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-576190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}