Former media tycoon Conrad Black lobbed verbal bombs at several high profile British journalists while promoting his new book, A Matter Of Principle, in the U.K.

During an appearance on the satirical TV show Have I Got News For You? Friday night, Black branded Newsnight anchor Jeremy Paxman  “an a**hole.” Earlier in the week, he called Sky News' political editor Adam Boulton a "jackass."

Black, who was imprisoned for three years for defrauding investors, claims he was wrongly convicted by the U.S. justice system. He mounted a vigorous defence of his reputation on the show.

While he was visiting the U.K., Black lost his bid for a hearing to decide whether he can remain an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In July 2011, Black was told that there may be reasonable grounds for an advisory council to revoke his Order of Canada status after he was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice in the U.S. He served 37 months in a Florida prison and returned to his home in Toronto in May after he was granted a temporary resident permit.

Black argued that he wants the opportunity to address the advisory board to demonstrate there are "substantial grounds to show that the conduct of the foreign prosecutors and state have not been appropriate or fair," Black wrote in a letter.

The Federal Court declined.

"I fail to see how Mr. Black could use an oral hearing to establish that he did nothing wrong, legally or morally, without by necessity attempting to relitigate the decisions of the U.S. courts," Justice Yves de Montigny wrote in the decision.

Black, 68, was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1990. He forfeited his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to become a member of the British House of Lords.

Black was convicted in 2007 for embezzling money at his Chicago-based Hollinger newspaper empire.
Earlier this month, Black was fined $6.1 million by a U.S. district court for violating securities laws there.