Australians have turned against Robert Irwin after he threatened legal action over a satirical One Nation cartoon used to criticize the Queensland government.
Pauline Hanson’s ‘Please Explain’ animated video series featured an image of the younger Irwin alongside famous cartoon dog Bluey in its latest episode on Friday.
The episode, titled ‘The State of Queensland’, satirically showed Irwin and Bluey exploring the state after the pair were revealed as the faces of their new tourism campaign.
Hours after the video was posted, FC Lawyers on behalf of Irwin sent a cease and desist letter to StepMates Studios, the series’ production team.
Ms Hanson responded to Irwin by telling him to “relax” and asking how he could smear the wildlife celebrity.
Ordinary Australians are weighing in, with some calling Irwin a ‘sook’ who needs to ‘grow up’, while others have defended him and condemned Ms Hanson.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has hit back at Robert Irwin after he sent the party a cease and desist on her latest episode of ‘Please Explain’.
‘Your dad would have laughed a lot at Pauline’s caricature. She grows up, stops being a snowflake! said one person.
‘I can’t believe Robert Irwin is threatening One Nation with legal action over a (fabulous) satirical cartoon. How pathetic and un-Australian. He develops a sense of humor, man,” wrote another.
“Robert Irwin is very sensitive and needs to laugh,” a third person commented.
‘Robert Irwin doesn’t seem to have thought this through. By taking action, not only did it start trending on X, but now many more people have seen the video than they would have otherwise,” wrote one more.
Others took aim at Mrs. Hanson and defended Irwin.
“The politician is Pauline Hanson and she has a history of trying to sue others when they feel offended,” one wrote.
“He likes to hand it out, but he can’t stand it, which will cost him the ballot box.”
Another added: “What about Pauline Hanson threatening legal action over Pauline Pantsdown?”
The two minute video. He uses Irwin to criticize the state government over the hospital system, roads, transportation, sustainable energy, the housing crisis and youth crime.
Hanson questioned how his cartoon defamed Irwin and insisted that he should find it funny.
“Relax mate, your dad was a larrikin, an icon to Australia and the world and he would have had a good laugh,” he said. Adelaide now.
The firebrand senator’s YouTube series featured an episode on Friday in which Irwin and ABC children’s cartoon character Bluey are satirically depicted (pictured).
The Queensland government weighed in on the dilemma on Sunday.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish criticized the video, saying Hanson used Queensland icons “to try to sell a slightly mean-spirited and slightly racist political message”.
“I love political satire, but the main thing about satire is that it has to be funny,” he told Daily Telegraph.
Mellish said the video “was designed to get a response,” but he didn’t see the point, other than to “divide people.”
“I’m a father of two little boys who love watching Bluey every day, I don’t think they’d want to see Bluey in a Pauline Hanson video,” he said.
Opposition leader David Crisafulli called on everyone involved in the scandal to fix it.
“I’m not a big fan of censoring cartoons, but I would like them to try to fix it,” he said.
Irwin (pictured) sent legal letters to the production company behind the Pauline Hanson cartoon within hours of its upload.
Hanson said One Nation intends to fight the lawsuit because the cartoon wasn’t even about Irwin in the first place.
‘How are you going to argue defamation? “It’s not about him, it’s about Queensland’s problems,” she said.
He also hinted that he should be grateful to be able to appear in the surprisingly popular web series.
“I’ve got MPs asking me when they’re going to appear in the cartoon, we’ve got people paying to appear, so I gave it a free shot,” he said.
“And (Irwin) wants to sue me for it.”
One Nation chief of staff James Ashby also confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that the party would object to the contents of the letter and has hired defamation expert Sue Chrysanthou SC.
FC Lawyers’ Zoe Naylor’s letter to the animation studio’s founders, Mark Nicholson and Sebastian Peart, said their depiction of Irwin “constitutes defamation.”
Hanson told Irwin to relax and take it as a joke, as his father, legendary conservationist Steve Irwin, would have done.
Naylor added that the cartoon was an “unauthorized and misleading use of our client’s likeness” and demanded that the studio remove the video from all platforms.
In the episode, Irwin’s enthusiastic character tries to show Bluey all the positive things the Sunshine State has to offer.
But the couple faces the same issues residents struggle with every day.
At one point, the duo mistakes a long queue at the famous Movie World theme park for a rental inspection, highlighting Queensland’s dire housing crisis.
They are also targeted by foul-mouthed criminals who steal their vehicle and “beat up” Bluey.
When they take him to the hospital, they are told that the wait will be “six months.”
The episode ends with a pessimistic Irwin saying, “I can’t believe this is the state of Queensland.”
Ms Hanson and One Nation chief of staff James Ashby told young Irwin to be more like his father Steve, who they claim “would have had a good laugh” at the cartoon.
Ms Naylor’s letter claims the cartoon “not only tarnished our client’s reputation but also misled the public, causing significant damage to our client’s brand and image”.
“The unauthorized use of our client’s image in this context is particularly egregious as it manipulates the truth and misrepresents our client’s personality, values and beliefs.”
The lawyer demanded StepMates Studios remove the cartoon from all social media platforms and elsewhere online.
Naylor also ordered them not to portray Irwin in the future without permission.
They have until 5pm on Monday to comply with the demands or the firm can take the matter to Federal Court.