Stacey Dooley has been slammed for refusing to apologise over the 'white saviour' row that kicked off after her Comic Relief trip.
The Strictly Come Dancing winner, 32, had been criticised for posting a picture of a young boy while she was in Uganda, saying she was "obsessed" with him.
It caused uproar from Labour MP David Lammy and on social media, with critics accusing her and other celebs on Comic Relief missions of exploiting people in poverty-stricken areas to feel better about themselves.
Stacey said the furor was "hysterical" and she "doesn't care" what Lammy or Twitter thinks of her when asked about it at the Sheffield Doc Fest on Monday.
The backlash means that Comic Relief have stopped sending famous people to developing countries, after it was claimed donations were down by £8million in the wake of the debate.
Stacey said: "It all felt quite hysterical and quite divisive and then he went on television programmes and was shouting and trying to get his point across.
"If he's familiar with my work he'd know that I've been going to Africa and different countries for the last 12 years and it's never about me, it's about making sure these people are heard.
"I remember texting lots of people in Uganda and saying 'I'm so delighted we raised £60million this year for lots of different projects,' and them saying 'We're just a bit gutted that a politician tried to make it political, they have no idea what's going on on the ground.'
"Ultimately I don't really care what David Lammy thinks of me, I don't care what people on Twitter think of me.
"It's about people on the ground and they text us and thanked us for our time, and they're really happy with how we behaved and the family gave their consent so I'm very happy with my behaviour."
Twitter user Annalisa Toccara was at the event and criticised Stacey's response, accusing her of a "lack of understanding" about the issue.
She tweeted: "What we were shown was a lack of understanding & complete defiance on her part with her words 'I could care less about what people think' uttered several times.
"A massive round of applause should have been given to the man at the back who quite rightly called her out."
Annalisa also accused Stacey's boyfriend Kevin Clifton of speaking to "like I was a piece of s***" after she spoke to him about Stacey's comments, not realising who he was.
She added: "I myself ended up in a conversation straight after with a white man who I was sitting next too (who happened to be part of the BBC team.)
"He proceeded to tell me that I was angry & defensive. I of course said no you are portraying me as that as I am a Black woman."
Annalisa added: "I ended up walking off & he called after me 'you are s***ing on your own argument.' This has wholly ruined my experience of @ sheffdocfest. So much so that I didn’t go back for @ theslumflower’s talk."
Mirror Online has contacted Stacey's representatives for comment.
