Robert Irwin arrived back home in Australia on Saturday after threating to sue Pauline Hanson over a satirical cartoon.
The conservationist, 20, was accompanied by his mother, Terri Irwin, as he touched down at Brisbane Airport.
The television personality appeared in low spirts as he left the terminal and loaded his luggage into a waiting car.
Robert kept his eyes to the crowd as he made his way out of the airport carrying a large amount of luggage.
The young star has been embroiled in controversy as Hanson holds firm in her refusal to take down a satirical cartoon about Robert after he threatened legal action.
Senator Hanson’s ‘Please Explain’ animated video series featured a likeness of the youngest Irwin alongside famous cartoon dog Bluey in its latest episode earlier this month.
The episode, titled ‘The State of Queensland‘, satirically depicts Irwin and Bluey exploring the state after the pair were unveiled as the faces of its new $9.2million tourism campaign.
However, just hours after the video was published, FC Lawyers on behalf of Irwin sent a cease and desist letter to StepMates Studios, the series’ production team.
Daily Mail Australia understands that FC Lawyers gave a deadline of 5pm on Monday, June 17 to remove the videos from all social media platforms.
But Senator Hanson has refused to comply, instead urging the wildlife warrior to see the funny side of the video which has now been viewed over half a million times.
‘I can confidently say we won’t be taking the episode down and I’m hoping Robert decides to lighten up a bit,’ she wrote on social media.
Senator Hanson added: ‘I look forward to the day when Robert and I can have a good laugh over this and turn our focus to making Queensland a better state.’
Her lawyers branded the threatened legal action ‘misconceived’ and ‘nonsensical’ in a letter on Monday.
It comes as a top lawyer encouraged Irwin to take Senator Hanson’s advice to ‘lighten up’ because he had ‘absolutely’ no chance of success with the threatened defamation suit.
Justin Quill, media and litigation partner from Thomson Greer Laywers, said it was ‘clear that this is a joke’.
‘I dont think it’s defamatory in the first place and even if it is I think there’s two really obvious defences – one is opinion and the other is political discussion,’ he told Today.
‘I doubt it’s going to court.’
In any event, One Nation’s chief of staff James Ashby confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that he had drafted in defamation expert Sue Chrysanthou SC.
Daily Mail Australia approached FC Lawyers for comment.
In the episode, the enthusiastic Irwin character attempts to show Bluey all the positive things the Sunshine State has to offer.
But the pair are met with the very same problems residents there are struggling with everyday.
The duo at one point mistake a long queue at the famed Movie World theme park for a rental inspection, highlighting Queensland’s dire housing crisis.
They are also targeted by foul-mouthed delinquents who steal their vehicle and ‘bash’ Bluey.
When he is taken to hospital, they are told it will be a ‘six-month’ wait.
The episode ends with a downbeat Irwin, saying ‘I can’t believe this is the state of Queensland’.
On Monday, Hanson said the episode ‘highlighted the struggles many Queenslanders are facing due to the serious failures of the Miles Labor state government’.
She added: ‘We won’t let that message be shut down.’
Ordinary Aussies have since weighed in, with some calling Irwin a ‘sook’ who needs to ‘grow up’, while some have defended him and condemned Hanson.
‘Your dad would [have] had a good laugh at Pauline’s cartoon. Grow up, stop being a snowflake!’ one person said.
‘I can’t believe Robert Irwin is threatening One Nation with legal action over a (fabulous) satirical cartoon. How pathetic and un-Australian. Grow a sense of humour, mate,’ wrote another.
‘Robert Irwin is very thin skinned he needs a laugh,’ a third person commented.
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‘Robert Irwin doesn’t appear to have thought this through. By taking action, he has not only started trending on X, but so many more people have now seen the video than might have otherwise,’ one more wrote.
Others took aim at Hanson and defended Irwin.
‘It is Pauline Hanson who is the politician and she has a record of trying to sue others when offended,’ one wrote.
‘She likes to dish it out but can’t take it which will cost her at the ballot box!’
Another added: ‘What about when Pauline Hanson threatened legal action over Pauline Pantsdown.’