Two Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office sergeants filed the lawsuit over The Rip movie on May 6, 2026, accusing the production companies behind the Netflix film of defaming them by weaving distinctive details of a real 2016 drug bust into a story about corrupt narcotics officers. Nine days later, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning they can refile if they choose.
Who Sued and What They Claimed
Sergeants Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana brought the complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, case number 1:26-cv-23213-CMA.1Fox News. Smith and Santana v. Falco Pictures Complaint They named two defendants: Artists Equity and Falco Pictures, both owned by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Netflix, which distributed the film, was not sued.2The New York Times. The Rip Netflix Lawsuit
The complaint pleaded three theories: defamation per se, defamation by implication, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.3Entertainment Weekly. Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Sued by Miami Cops for Defamation Over The Rip Movie Smith and Santana asked for compensatory and punitive damages, a public retraction, and attorney fees. Neither officer is named in the film, but the complaint argues the fictional narcotics team’s operation shares enough “distinctive details” with the real 2016 seizure that anyone familiar with the case can identify them. The fictional officers are shown stealing drug money and, per the complaint, murdering a federal agent.4Fox 13 News. Florida Officers Sue Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Over Film The Rip Smith and Santana say that has caused “substantial harm to their personal and professional reputations.”5People. 2 Miami Cops File Lawsuit Against Matt Damon, Ben Affleck Over The Rip
The Real Bust Behind the Film
On June 28, 2016, a Miami-Dade Police Department and DEA team raided a Miami Lakes home and found more than $21 million in cash hidden in an attic compartment, packed into five-gallon Home Depot buckets. Another $600,000 was recovered at a nearby business owned by the homeowner, Luis Hernandez-Gonzalez.6Police1. Netflix Thriller The Rip Draws From a Real $22M Miami-Dade Drug Bust It remains the largest cash seizure in the department’s history.7NBC Miami. The $22M Drug Bust in Miami Lakes That Inspired Netflix’s New Movie The Rip Santana was the lead detective on the case and Smith was the supervising sergeant.8USA Today. Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Sued by Miami-Dade Sheriff Deputies Over The Rip
The Rip, written and directed by Joe Carnahan, released on Netflix in January 2026 and marketed as “inspired by true events.” Damon and Affleck play members of a Miami narcotics unit who find about $20 million in a bust and begin to suspect a teammate plans to steal it.9The Guardian. Miami Deputies Lawsuit Against Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Over Rip Movie The film moves the setting from Miami Lakes to Hialeah and uses invented character names. One procedural anchor comes straight from reality: Florida law required officers to count the seized cash on-site, which in the real case took 42 hours.6Police1. Netflix Thriller The Rip Draws From a Real $22M Miami-Dade Drug Bust The real bust, however, involved no corrupt officers, no shoot-outs, and no government conspiracy. The money came from a Cuban marijuana grow-house operation, and Hernandez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty in 2018 to money laundering and structuring.10U.S. Department of Justice. Miami-Dade County Resident Sentenced to 65 Months in Prison for Structuring and Money Laundering
The Consultant Dispute
The complaint also targets how the filmmakers sourced the story. Carnahan has said the project came from a close friend who took part in the real raid: former Miami-Dade officer Chris Casiano, who was paid as a technical advisor. The complaint alleges Casiano was not part of the Narcotics Bureau at the time of the 2016 operation, and that Smith and Santana, who actually worked the bust, should have been compensated for their role in the events that inspired the film.9The Guardian. Miami Deputies Lawsuit Against Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Over Rip Movie After the film’s release, according to the complaint, an unnamed officer who had also consulted on the project contacted Smith and Santana on Carnahan’s behalf, apologized for “Christopher Casiano’s representation of the story,” and floated future roles or consulting work.5People. 2 Miami Cops File Lawsuit Against Matt Damon, Ben Affleck Over The Rip
How the Production Companies Responded
Before the suit was filed, plaintiffs’ attorney Ignacio Alvarez of ALGO Law Firm sent a demand letter. Leita Walker of Ballard Spahr, writing for Artists Equity on March 19, 2026, rejected the claims. She said the film “does not purport to tell the true story of that incident or portray real people,” pointed to a disclaimer in the credits, and noted that Smith and Santana had not identified which character was supposed to represent either of them.11ABC11. South Florida Officers Sue Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Claiming Details in The Rip Are Real
Alvarez called the disclaimer inadequate. “The disclaimer is all the way at the end, after the credits. I had to put on my glasses to read it,” he told reporters, adding that the film left his clients with “a cloud over their shoulder” and “destroyed their credibility and reputation.”12AOL. Two of Hollywood’s Top Stars Just Got Sued After filing, an attorney for Artists Equity declined to comment on the active litigation.11ABC11. South Florida Officers Sue Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Claiming Details in The Rip Are Real
Voluntary Dismissal on May 18
The case ended quickly. Smith and Santana filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice on May 15, 2026, and the court terminated the case on May 18, 2026.13PACER Monitor. Smith et al v. Falco Pictures, LLC et al Because the dismissal was without prejudice, the plaintiffs kept the right to refile. No public explanation for the withdrawal has been reported.
Why Defamation Cases Over Fiction Are Hard
The central question in a suit like this is whether a fictional character is “of and concerning” a real person, meaning a reasonable viewer would understand the character to depict the plaintiff. Courts have generally required more than generic similarities and looked for “highly unusual characteristics” that make the plaintiff readily identifiable. A fictional-characters disclaimer is relevant but not automatically dispositive.
Recent streaming-era cases have cut both ways. In Gaprindashvili v. Netflix, a federal judge denied Netflix’s motion to dismiss a claim over a line in The Queen’s Gambit, ruling that fiction is not immune from defamation suits by real people; Netflix later settled on undisclosed terms.14Variety. Netflix Queen’s Gambit Lawsuit Settlement By contrast, the law firm Mossack Fonseca lost its defamation suit over The Laundromat after a court found the depictions were clearly dramatized plot devices rather than factual assertions.
For Smith and Santana, the obstacles are pronounced. They are not named in The Rip, the characters use invented names, and the setting was moved to a different city. Their argument rests on operational details, including the dollar amount, the narcotics-team structure, and the on-site counting procedure, being distinctive enough that colleagues and neighbors would connect the dots. Whether that argument would clear the legal threshold is untested, because the case was withdrawn before any court ruled on the merits.