Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja took to Facebook early this morning to announce that the fee for his performance at a Henley & Partners event on Friday night would instead be split up between two different charities.

“This evening I closed the concert at Henley & Partners  with the prayer from Verdi’s Requiem Ingemisco dedicated to the slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia,” Calleja said. “Furthermore, all of my fee will be split in two and donated to the BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation and to Our Lady Mother of God, Carmelite Monastry.”

The tenor went on to say that the Archbishop, who was reportedly aware of his plans before the concert, would be supervising the whole donation.

Calleja drew the ire of a group of Maltese protestors gathered outside the Drapers’ Hall yesterday. The protestors (who wore masks of Joseph Muscat and held copies of Maltese passports and slogans with the last words of slain journalist Daphne Caruana Journalists) questioned Calleja’s “honour” choosing to sing at an event organised by Henley & Partners last night on behalf of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. His response drew even more criticism when many took to social media to express how tone-deaf it all sounded.

“Even though I strongly disagreed with many of Daphne’s writings, the fact is that she is dead,” Calleja said. “I am not here to endorse Henley & Partners but to fulfil a commitment that was made years ago before all this hullabaloo. I am a professional and this is what I do. I am here to sing. I am not scared of this protest because I have done nothing wrong, although of course you are free to disagree with me. I am here as a professional and as a cultural ambassador and I wear my ring on my finger. I could have gone into the Hall straight away but I came here to speak to you first.”

This morning’s announcement has already seen an influx of varied reactions. 

Some applauded Calleja’s act, even going so far as to call it “a true noble act” and an example of “true altruism.”

Others, on the other hand, claimed this was a poor attempt at hiding the fact that Calleja had agreed to perform for such an organisation at such a time. “If this jest really was planned from beforehand, you would’ve instantly told that protestor that the money was going to charity, and not told her that it’s not her business to ask,” one person remarked. Some even brought up certain words like “hullabaloo” which the tenor had used last night as an example of how insensitive and crass the decision to perform was.

Many people expressed their disappointment with the beloved tenor, quoting sayings such as: “In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.”

What do you make of all this? Let us know in the comments below

READ NEXT: WATCH: Joseph Calleja Addresses Maltese Protestors In London At Henley & Partners Event

David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).