Crime

Conrad Black: I’m Not Embarrassed I Was In Prison

If you’re a mogul who goes to prison, the situation is usually described as embarrassing. Seems like a basic rule of thumb. Not the case for former newspaper magnate Conrad Black, though!

“I’m not embarrassed in the least bit I was in prison—not the slightest,” he tells Vanity Fair in a tell-all that comes out today. Oh.

Black, currently out of the slammer for a bit — but due to head back next week to finish out his sentence for fraud — tells the magazine, essentially, that prison is no biggie, even if it was for other jailed moguls. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You can’t talk to Martha Stewart about it, or Alfred Taubman. They didn’t see it as I did, as a nightmarish change in careers. I see it as a temporary vocation.” Well then.

Anyway, perhaps that’s because Black fancies himself a tough guy. He made lots of friends behind bars! Or so he says: “I quickly developed alliances with the Mafia people, then the Cubans. I was friendly with the ‘good ol’ boys’ and the African-Americans. They all understood I had fought the system, and I do believe I earned their respect for that. Everyone got along, except with the child-molesters. There was the occasional scuffle there, I heard.”

Hmm…no comment.

Black was once worth $400 million, though of course, not anymore. “I can live on $80 million. At least I think I can.” Life is hard, Conrad. You’ll be okay.

TAGS: conrad black jail | conrad black prison | conrad black vanity fair

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