A 22-year-old popular television star suddenly left without a left leg and with a badly damaged right one is suing his show\u2019s producers in Miami-Dade County for negligence and is seeking compensation for injuries suffered while taping.<\/p>\n
Stavros Floros, a cast member of \u201cSurvivor Greece,\u201d represented by Coral Gables-based law firm Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, filed the suit on Thursday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.<\/p>\n
The incident happened in May off the southern coast of the Dominican Republic near Bayahibe, which is east of La Romana. The lawsuit alleges that the show\u2019s producers required contestants to spearfish in heavily boat-trafficked waters without adequate safety measures and despite knowledge of previous problems, including a death.<\/p>\n
The lawsuits named Acun Medya, Acun Medya Global, Acun LLC, Acun Ilicali and Skai TV as defendants and seeks damages on Floros\u2019 behalf. Acun Medya is a Turkish media giant and production firm. Acun Ilicali is a Turkish media businessman worth millions of dollars. The suit is seeking $100 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurvivor Greece\u201d is a Greek TV offshoot of the original \u201cSurvivor.:<\/p>\n
The lawsuit claims Florida has jurisdiction for the case for several reasons including past seasons of \u201cSurvivor Greece\u201d and \u201cSurvivor Turkey\u201d taped in Miami, and contestants regularly sent to the city as a reward.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurvivor Greece\u201d taped in South Florida in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and \u201cthe prior filming in Miami, Florida is what enticed Stavros to participate,\u201d L. Alex Perez, one of the alleged victim\u2019s lawyers and a partner with Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman said in an interview with the Miami Herald. \u201cHe wanted to win the luxury reward trip to Miami.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, \u201cSurvivor Greece\u201d got benefits from the state of Florida by using its attractions in filming such as Government Cut or Wynwood to attract viewers. Over a long period of time, \u201cthe TV production is doing business in the state of Florida \u2026 which subjects them to jurisdiction,\u201d Perez said.<\/p>\n
Acun Ilicali also owns assets in South Florida, including a home in Miami Beach. And he has used that property for business activities, the lawsuit alleges.<\/p>\n
Acun Medya didn\u2019t respond Thursday to a request for comment on the lawsuit from the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Stavros Floros experienced the following, according to the complaint:<\/p>\n
At 7:30 a.m. May 11, Floros and castmate and friend Emmanouil Malliaros waded into the waters near Palmilla Island, in the Bayahibe filming area, to spearfish. They thought the water would be calmer in the early morning.<\/p>\n
Between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m, a boat carrying about 20 tourists headed toward Floros, and it wasn\u2019t slowing down. Malliaros yelled at him to get out of the way. Floros tried to. He managed to slightly move so that he wasn\u2019t hit and killed by the hull or propellers of the boat.<\/p>\n
Still, the vessel\u2019s propellers struck both legs of Floros. Part of his left leg was never recovered. It was severed above the knee and that led to an eventual full amputation. His right leg was badly mangled.<\/p>\n
The collision happened less than a tenth of a mile from the shore. The boat eventually returned to Floros and helped him after a passenger insisted.<\/p>\n
Someone aboard then applied a tourniquet to Floros, and possibly saved his life.<\/p>\n
He was then taken to a clinic in the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n
Malliaros witnessed the events and described them.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo production safety personnel, safety boats, spotters, or other protective measures were provided by Defendants,\u201d says the complaint, \u201cnor present at the time of the incident to warn approaching boats away from the area, or to protect Plaintiff and other cast members from boat traffic while in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Floros, who is from Greece, was then flown to Miami for trauma, surgical, and critical care. He was admitted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital and hospitalized for 61 days. He had several operations.<\/p>\n
The defendants helped ensure Floros received medical care, the lawsuit acknowledged.<\/p>\n
Yet, following the incident, filming and production of \u201cSurvivor Greece\u201d didn\u2019t stop. Producers \u201ccontinued to exercise the same control over the remaining cast members that it had exercised before the incident,\u201d according to the lawsuit. Producers also provided remaining cast members with cocaine and marijuana \u201capparently to help calm and settle the cast following Plaintiff\u2019s injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
The production crew also sought to award Malliaros, the plaintiff\u2019s friend, prize money due to his involvement in the incident. But to receive that prize money, producers asked Malliaros to sign a document falsely representing that the Survivor competition had ended on May 10, 2026, one day before the incident.<\/p>\n
Malliaros refused to sign because the statement was untrue, the suit said, and instead required any agreement to state accurately that the competition remained ongoing at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published September 3, 2026 at 5:59 PM.<\/p>\n