Matt Damon lands in Los Angeles as defamation suit over 'The Rip' escalates

Matt Damon flew from Portland Hillsboro Airport to Van Nuys Airport on May 13, 2026, a 1-hour-46-minute hop in his Bombardier Global 7500, N444WT. The flight arrives the same week two Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office sergeants, Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, filed a defamation lawsuit against Damon and Ben Affleck’s production company, Artists Equity, over the Netflix film “The Rip,” as reported by CNN and Variety on May 12.

The lawsuit, filed in Miami federal court, claims the film’s fictionalized narcotics team borrows specific details from a real 2016 cash seizure the officers worked, implying they committed crimes including murder and arson. Damon and Affleck have said the story is loosely based on accounts from a Miami-Dade police captain who advised the film, per the Associated Press. The officers are seeking a public retraction and damages.

Damon’s arrival in Los Angeles comes amid the legal fallout, though the actor also maintains professional ties to the area through Artists Equity, which he co-founded with Affleck. No prior flights were recorded for N444WT, making this trip the first tracked movement for the jet.