Two American police officers have sued actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for defamation. They claim that the recent action thriller The Rip shows too many similarities with an existing police case. This would have damaged the reputation of the officers.
In the film, which premiered on Netflix in January, Affleck and Damon play Florida police officers who find millions of dollars in a house. Parts of the film are inspired by a real-life 2016 case in which police found more than $21 million in a Miami Lakes home linked to an alleged marijuana trafficker.
Although the two officers are not mentioned by name in the film, they believe there are too many similarities with the chief inspector and the sergeant who led the investigation team. The fact that the film also contains real details about the case gives the impression that the film characters are based on the real officers, according to the complaint.
The officers fear that friends, family members and colleagues may get the impression that the officers actually committed the criminal acts that appear in the film. The amount of compensation the two are seeking has not been disclosed. But the complaint states that in addition to financial compensation, a public correction is also requested.
According to the actors’ lawyer and their production company, the film makes absolutely no claims to tell the true story of the 2016 case or to depict real people, as is also stated in a disclaimer in the film’s credits.
