8 seething put-downs from Conrad Black

If there’s one thing the former media baron is known for, besides his prison stint, it’s his ability to craft an insult. Here are 8 of his best—some long, some short, all angry:

1. “You’re a priggish, gullible, British fool who takes seriously this ghastly American justice system that any sane English person knows is an outrage.”

—To BBC interviewer Jeremy Paxman, 2012

2. “If your jumped-up little twerp of a bishop thinks I’m not a very good Catholic, I think he’s a prime candidate for exorcism.”

—Calgary Herald, 2000, in reference to Bishop Fred Henry

3. “History’s wealthiest useful idiot (in political matters) . . . the apotheosis of that unique American phenomenon, the very rich know-it-all.”

—On Warren Buffett, 2012

4. “You would indeed be transgressing your expressed wish not to be a bore.”

—To David Barclay, in 2003, about his desire to invest in the Telegraph newspaper

5. “You are spectacularly unqualified.”

—To his replacement on the Hollinger board, Gordon Paris, 2003

6. “Your proletarian posturing on behalf of those threatening to strike the Sun-Times and your base ingratitude are very tiresome.”

—To film critic Roger Ebert, 2007

7. “A familiar and somewhat pitiful figure who has hovered and festered for some years on the fringes of Canadian government and fiction writing.”

—On John Ralston Saul, 1988

8. “Stop being a jackass.”

—To Sky TV interviewer Adam Boulton, 2012

Source: News reports, court documents

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