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Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are facing a defamation lawsuit by two Miami-Dade police officers who claim in a legal filing this week that the action movie directed by Hollywood stars… Rupture It mixes fictional details with hard facts from officers’ real-life experiences too liberally, causing significant damage to their reputations both personally and professionally.
RuptureAn action thriller about Miami narcotics officers who become corrupted by greed and division, written and directed by Joe Carnahan and developed with Michael McGraw. The story is based on the novel by Miami-Dade County Police Captain Chris Cassiano, an old friend of Carnahan’s.
In the film, a Miami narcotics team discovers millions of dollars hidden inside a drug cartel’s hideout during a raid. Paranoia, greed, and suspicion follow among the team members, breaking their loyalty and quickly eroding any remaining trust. The thriller was released on Netflix in January to positive reception.
On May 7, Miami-Dade police deputies Jonathan Santana and Jason Smith filed a defamation lawsuit against Damon and Affleck’s production company, Artists Equity, alleging that events they were involved in during a series of 2016 drug busts in South Florida were recreated in Rupture In ways that portray them as “dirty cops” – and that this portrayal has caused “significant damage” to their reputation.
The suit does not specify the amount Santana and Smith are seeking in damages, but the lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, and a general reversal and correction.
While promoting the film, Damon, Affleck, and Carnahan all said so Rupture The film is based on a real-life case involving Miami police. The Miami Lakes drug case fictionalized in the film involves the seizure of nearly $20 million after the money was discovered inside a residential attic. Santana was the lead detective assigned to the real case. Smith was the sergeant who supervised the investigation team. In this case, they say some details are so close, it has affected their daily lives.
“When you tear something up, you steal something,” Santana told 7 News Miami in an interview this week. “We never stole a dollar.” He added that since the film came out, his colleagues who have seen the film have asked him things like: “How many buckets of money did you steal?”
In the lawsuit, deputies claim that Affleck and Damon’s production company should have compensated Santana, Smith and the other officers involved in the real case as consultants. Instead, Artists Equity paid a member of the force who was not part of this investigation: Cassiano was listed as a technical consultant for the film, and the two Oscar-winning stars spent time with him and other narcotics officers to prepare for filming.
Ignacio Alvarez, whose Miami-based firm represents the two lawmakers, could not immediately speak Hollywood Reporter When contacted for comment on Tuesday. However, he explained the case to 7 News Miami.
“If an individual is paid for the story, they should be compensated for their attendance,” he said, later adding: “My client now suffers harm for the rest of their lives as everyone realizes they are dirty.”
The film does not purport to tell the true story of the 2016 Miami drug raid or depict real people, Artists Equity legal representative Leta Walker wrote in a March 19 response to prosecutors’ demand letter. She noted that this fact is clearly stated in the disclaimer in the film’s credits.
