The founder of the dating app Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd, has broken her silence on the new Hulu movie Swiped, which dramatizes her life story without her involvement. In a recent interview, she revealed she tried to stop the film and finds the entire situation “too weird,” admitting she hasn’t been able to watch the full trailer.
The film, which stars Lily James as Wolfe Herd, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month and is now available for streaming. It tells the story of Wolfe Herd’s journey from a marketing role at Tinder to founding the multi-billion dollar company Bumble. Despite the movie putting her life in the spotlight, the entrepreneur had no part in its creation and only learned about the project after it was well underway.
Whitney Wolfe Herd’s Reaction
During an interview with CNBC on September 19, 2025, Whitney Wolfe Herd shared her mixed feelings about the biopic. She stated clearly that she was not involved in the making of Swiped and initially wanted nothing to do with it.
“Frankly, I was informed about this movie after it was already off to the races. I think they had already written the script and done all these things. I even was asking my lawyer two years ago, like, ‘What do I do? I don’t want a movie about me. Shut it down!’” Wolfe Herd said.
Her lawyer informed her that there was little she could do to prevent the film’s release because, as a public figure, her story is based on publicly available information. Wolfe Herd described her current feelings as a combination of fear and a small amount of flattery.
“I don’t know if I’m going to watch it or not. I’m obviously both terrified and maybe slightly flattered? But I think the strangeness and the fear of it outweighs any flattery. Listen, we’ll just see. I gotta get some popcorn and stay tuned,” she told CNBC.
Despite her unease, Wolfe Herd expressed approval for the casting of Lily James, calling the actress “very talented” and saying she was “honored” by the choice.
The Movie’s Inspiration and Story
Swiped is inspired by the real-life events of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s career in the male-dominated tech industry. The film follows her early work as one of the first employees and a co-founder of Tinder, where she served as Vice President of Marketing.
Her departure from Tinder was followed by a 2014 lawsuit against the company and its parent company, IAC. She alleged sexual harassment and discrimination by Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen, and also claimed that her official co-founder title was stripped because she was a woman. The lawsuit was settled out of court later that year without any admission of wrongdoing.
Following her exit, Wolfe Herd channeled her experiences into creating Bumble in 2014. The dating app differentiated itself by requiring women to make the first move, a feature designed to create a more respectful and balanced dynamic in online dating. This innovation led to massive success, making Wolfe Herd the youngest woman to take a company public in the United States when Bumble had its initial public offering (IPO) in 2021.
Lily James on Portraying a Tech Pioneer
For her part, actress Lily James has spoken positively about the opportunity to play Wolfe Herd. At the Toronto International Film Festival, James described the Bumble founder as a “visionary” and said she found the story deeply compelling.
“I obviously knew about both apps, Bumble and Tinder, but I had no idea there was this woman right at the kind of epicenter of them, and I was bowled over by her story,” James told Deadline. She added that researching Wolfe Herd was “really inspiring” and called her a “trailblazer.”
James is known for previously portraying real people, including Pamela Anderson in the Hulu series Pam & Tommy. She stated that stepping into Wolfe Herd’s shoes for Swiped was a “really meaningful experience.”
Controversy and Claims from Tinder Insiders
The release of Swiped has reignited old debates about Wolfe Herd’s exact role in the creation of Tinder. Following the movie’s trailer, some original members of the Tinder team have publicly challenged the narrative that she was a co-founder.
In comments to Page Six, Tinder co-founder Jonathan Badeen claimed that Wolfe Herd had an “intern-ish role” and was not considered part of the company’s leadership. Former Tinder vice president Rosette Pambakian recalled Wolfe Herd as “Justin’s girlfriend” who was “very intent on letting people know that” she was a co-founder.
These individuals allege that the only true co-founders were Badeen, Justin Mateen, and Sean Rad. They claim that Wolfe Herd’s title was not contested publicly in the past due to the legal sensitivities following her lawsuit. The film’s depiction of these events has been met with criticism from these original insiders, with one source stating that “Hollywood is about to canonize a lie.”
The director of Swiped, Rachel Lee Goldenberg, has clarified that the movie is “inspired by, not based on” Wolfe Herd’s story, focusing on “emotional truth” while using public records and media accounts for accuracy. The film currently holds a 37% rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.
A Reluctant Subject in a Growing Genre
Swiped is part of a popular trend of biopics about tech entrepreneurs, joining shows like The Dropout (about Elizabeth Holmes) and WeCrashed (about Adam Neumann). For Whitney Wolfe Herd, the situation is uniquely personal, as she is watching her story be told while she is still actively leading her company.
After briefly serving as executive chair, Wolfe Herd returned to the role of CEO at Bumble in March 2025. The film about her life is now available to stream globally on Hulu and Disney+ as of September 19, 2025.
Also Read: Swiped (2025): Full Cast and Character Guide
Credits: Fortune.com
