Teary 'Sopranos' Creator on Lawsuit: Fuhgeddaboudit

"Sopranos" creator David Chase took the stand in a New Jersey courtroom yesterday and testified that hearing he was being sued over his hit TV series made him want to cry, E! News reports. A retired judge who took Chase on a tour of wiseguy hangouts, many of which wound up in the show, is suing Chase for a cut of the profits.

Chase told the court that the mob saga was based on his love of the TV series "The Untouchables," his experiences growing up in New Jersey, and his own family—"''The Sopranos' is me. My mother, my uncles. It was my life"—and that when he heard that Robert Baer was claiming to be the show's co-creator, he was poleaxed. Baer says he was promised a job on the show if it took off. Other witnesses played down the value of Baer's contribution. (More Sopranos stories.)