Academy Award winners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have found themselves entangled in a legal battle, having been named in a defamation lawsuit.
The litigation centers on the crime thriller RIP, directed by Joe Carnahan and produced for Netflix, in which Affleck and Damon portray two drug enforcement agents caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous investigation.
The plaintiffs, Jonathan Santana and Jason Smith, are Miami-Dade County sheriff’s deputies who participated in actual drug raids across South Florida back in 2016.
According to the lawsuit, the officers contend that Affleck, Damon, and their production company, Artists Equity, depicted them in a disparaging light, causing significant personal and professional harm. The plaintiffs allege that the film’s portrayal led colleagues to suspect them of misappropriating funds from a crime scene.
During the promotional campaign for RIP, Affleck, Damon, and Carnahan maintained that the narrative was inspired by a real-life operation, though they did not explicitly identify the individuals involved. The specific damages sought by Santana and Smith remain undisclosed, and a date for the court proceedings has yet to be scheduled.
RIP premiered on the streaming platform earlier this January, earning favorable reviews from critics, currently holding a 78% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Source: THR