The Feud Between Jerry Seinfeld And The Real-Life Soup Nazi, Explained

As bizarre and intricate as its plotlines often got, much of "Seinfeld" was based on the real experiences of writers on the show. Co-creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld famously mined from real-life annoyances to create comedic high-wire acts that remain unparalleled today. The most famous "Seinfeld" episode inspired by a real person is no doubt "The Soup Nazi," a season 7 outing that caught on like wildfire upon release and still has people shouting "No soup for you!" at each other nearly 30 years later.

In the episode, Jerry and friends check out a much-hyped local soup joint, known as much for its tyrannical owner Yev Kassem (Larry Thomas) as for its delicious soups. Several New Yorkers are dramatically thrown out of the establishment one after another for committing such sins as complaining about not getting bread, putting their hands on the counter, telling Kassem he looks like Al Pacino, and saying "por favor" while ordering (though to be fair, two of those were on Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Elaine). By episode's end, Elaine has ticked the restaurateur off so bad that he decided to close up shop and move to Argentina.

Kassem was based on a real figure who reporters quickly identified as Soup Kitchen International owner Ali "Al" Yeganeh, according to Jennifer Keishin Armstrong's book "Seinfeldia." Yeganeh was not happy with Kassem's portrayal in the show, specifically taking umbrage with the nickname he was given: "The Soup Nazi." According to CBS, Kassem was upset at being called what he dubbed "the N-word," and he dismissed Seinfeld as "an idiot clown" who smeared him on TV. Keishin writes that he "[cursed] 'Seinfeld' for branding him a Nazi" and "rejoiced over Seinfeld's demise" when the hit show's ending was announced two seasons later.

Despite his protestations, Yeganeh lived up to his reputation: He'd already been alluded to as "the meanest man in America" in "Sleepless in Seattle" two years earlier, and Armstrong's book states that at one point after the "Seinfeld" episode, he threw a headset at a WABC-AM reporter who asked him to repeat his famous catchphrase. Another time he even cursed out Seinfeld himself. In an interview with ComicBook.com just this year, episode writer and series producer Spike Feresten recalled an incident that took place the summer after "The Soup Nazi" aired, when Seinfeld himself decided to try to order soup from Soup Kitchen International. 

"He said, 'Hey, I'd like to order soup,' and [Yeganeh] said, 'Get the F out of here,' and threw him off the line," Ferensten told the outlet. In typical Jerry Seinfeld fashion, the comedian apparently asked what the problem was, telling Yeganeh he'd made him famous. "You didn't make me famous — 'The Today Show' made me famous,'" Ferensten recalled Yeganeh saying.

Seinfeld persisted in asking for soup, and according to the writer, the man dubbed "The Soup Nazi" then "literally said a real version of 'no soup for you' with a lot of expletives — 'no effing soup for you, get out of here.'" Neither person in the story comes across particularly great here, with Seinfeld sounding smug and taunting (though perhaps it's his decades of on-the-record smugness since then influencing that interpretation) while Yeganeh clearly comes across as someone with a short fuse. Still, their relationship is more complicated than a simple dislike for one another; "Seinfeld" ushered Yeganeh into the national spotlight and changed his life forever.

In the decades since the episode aired, Yeganeh has sometimes capitalized on the "Seinfeld" connection, renaming his flagship location Original SoupMan by 2010 after his original attempt to open multiple locations eventually went bust. The company featured the tagline "Soup For You!" and it once hired the show's Soup Nazi himself, Larry Thomas, to represent the brand as it headed to grocery stores (per Globe News Wire). According to "Seinfeldia," Original SoupMan ended up with food trucks nationwide, and Jason Alexander even showed up to hand out soup at a Burbank store carrying the brand in 2012.

Not everything has been rosy for Yeganeh. Aside from the initial closing of the Manhattan-based store and other locations, an earlier 1997 deal to open soup kiosks "never materialized," according to Armstrong. Once the chain was successfully rebooted, an executive working with Original SoupMan also went to prison for tax evasion in 2017, and Yeganeh filed for bankruptcy protections the same year. The Original SoupMan on 55th Street remains open today, and legions of "Seinfeld" fans (and, judging by their Yelp reviews, soup fans who had no idea about "The Soup Nazi") still flock to it today. Despite its sitcom-inspired reputation, customers no longer seem to report that they endure verbal abuse in exchange for delicious soup.