Steve Shirripa and Michael Imperioli kind of touched on this on one of the TALKING SOPRANOS podcasts. They didn't go into detail (I think Steve wanted to go there but Michael redirected it) but Steve mentioned how Deniro didn't fukk with the Sopranos and I think he hinted at Deniro not wanting to work with anyone involved with the show.
Yeah, I like this podcast a lot. Michael Imperioli is awesome! He knows a lot about music, film and TV. His personal stories are mostly interesting as well.
Steve is the common guy who adds more humor and less analysis. When he busts Michael's balls about things I laugh. Also, hating on what he calls "Wonderbread Waps" is also hilarious. He has decent stories to as it seems he has cross paths with a lot of celebrities due to his previous work. Definitely gonna check out every ep, it's great background noise.