NEED TO KNOW
Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herde is not sure if she will watch Swiped. She couldn’t even get through the trailer.
Lily James plays the self-made billionaire, who co-founded Tinder before founding Bumble, in Hulu’s film about the dating app guru. Wolfe Herde, 36, was “not involved in” the movie, she said in a recent interview with CNBC, and she hasn’t decided whether she will watch it.
“Okay so, I can’t make it through the whole trailer,” Wolfe Herde admitted to CNBC, adding that “it’s too weird for me.”
“Frankly,” she told the outlet, “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.”
And flattery wasn’t the first thought on her mind when the Bumble founder first learned of Swiped. It was how to nip the movie in the bud.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
She told CNBC, “I even was asking my lawyer two years ago, like, ‘What do I do? I don’t want a movie made about me. Shut it down!’ He was like, ‘There’s nothing you can do. You’re somewhat of a public figure. There’s public information out there. They’re going to do what they’re going to do.’ ”
Wolfe Herde now has mixed feelings about the film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, she told the outlet. As for whether she’ll be streaming, she has not yet decided.
“I guess I don’t know if I’m going to watch it or not,” she told CNBC. “I’m obviously both terrified and maybe slightly flattered, but I think the strangeness and the fear of it outweighs any flattery. So listen, we’ll just see. I guess I gotta get some popcorn and stay tuned.”
“But,” the entrepreneur added, “I am honored that they chose Lily James. She’s a talented actress.”
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/20th Century Studios
James, 36, chose the role because she was drawn to tell Wolfe Herd’s story of hard work and resilience. “Whitney was so young when she was a part of not one, but two of these world-changing dating apps,” the actress, who also produced the film, said in a Sept. 8 interview at the PEOPLE/EW and Shutterstock studio at TIFF.
Wolfe Herd was in her early twenties when she co-founded Tinder in 2012. She left two years later and sued the company, making accusations of sexual harassment and discrimination against one of her co-founders, with whom she had a prior relationship. The case was settled in 2014 without Tinder admitting fault.
The same year, Wolfe Herd founded Bumble, which comes with a critical difference. Only women can make the first move, giving them more control over the dating app experience.
“She created Bumble as a direct response to the adversity and challenges that she faced as a woman in the tech space, as an entrepreneur, as a human,” James said in the TIFF studio. “And to channel that negativity into something so powerful, to me is such a strong message, such a strong, inspiring, important story to share.”
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/20th Century Studios
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Even if she had wanted a hand in how her story was told, Wolfe Herde could not participate in the making of Swiped due to the conditions of her NDA as a result of the lawsuit, according to Time. So James’ portrayal, the star previously revealed, relied entirely on research.
“The film was entirely sourced from the public domain,” the actress said, per Time. “I leaned into studying as much as I possibly could, watching every podcast and masterclass, every interview.”
“I just wanted to find the humanity and the woman inside of this story,” added James.
Swiped is now streaming on Hulu.
