Valletta 18 chairman Jason Micallef said criticism against him was “blown out of proportion”.
Over 70 MEPs, and hundreds of local and international artists called for the Valletta 2018 chairman’s removal after his comments on slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Read: Jason Micallef slammed as 'outrageous' by international writers
He said he was surprised by the reaction of the artists, noting that some were working with V18 and on the V18 payroll.
Read: More than 100 local artists call for Jason Micallef to quit Valletta 2018
“There were people who called me an idiot; I still gave them work. That’s how democracy works, not with a bunch of letters,” he said.
He said that at the end of the day, people were interested in the 400 events in Valletta and not in all the controversy surrounding him.
“I was always someone who said what they thought,” he said, stressing that he was against censorship.
He said he was sorry seeing people calling Malta a Mafia state, adding that when he was at St Patrick’s Day, he wanted to show that Maltese people were happy when he said “there are happy people everywhere you look. The situation is desperate”.
Read: Civil Society Network calls for Jason Micallef's resignation over offensive post
He said he hoped more banners by civil society activists would be put up: "We shouldn’t have a rule of two weights two measures when we speak about freedom of speech."
He said his objection had been that the banners had no permit and had been put up covering V18 ones that had permits.
He refuted the fact that the Dutch city of Leeuwarden - with is the joint European Capital of Culture this year - boycotted V18, saying that projects financed with V18 would continue.
When it was pointed out that Leeuwarden issued a statement saying that they would not be attending, he shrugged it off.
Read: Minister intervenes as Dutch European Capital of Culture boycotts Valletta 2018
The Maltese wanted to focus on the good of V18, but it has been shifted out of focus because of the negative media coverage, he insisted.