"Terrified and maybe slightly flattered": Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd reacts to her depiction in the Swiped movie

Whitney Wolfe Herd is the newest tech startup founder whose life has been dramatized on television. The CEO and founder of Bumble finds herself at the center of Swiped, Hulu's 2025 biographical drama that chronicles her journey through the cutthroat world of dating applications.

The movie, which opened the Toronto International Film Festival last month before coming to Hulu and Disney+ on September 19, 2025, features Lily James as Wolfe Herd and has already generated buzz about how to depict living technology icons in Hollywood.

Though audiences are currently streaming the movie, Whitney Wolfe Herd herself confesses that she is ambivalent about the project. In an interview with CNBC on 20th September 2025, she confessed that she wasn't involved in the production of the film and was caught off guard upon hearing about its existence.

She said to CNBC,

"I don’t know if I’m going to watch it or not. I’m obviously both terrified, and maybe slightly flattered?"

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What did Whitney Wolfe Herd had to say about Swiped?

Whitney Wolfe Herd (Image Via Getty)

Whitney Wolfe Herd called her response to being portrayed in Swiped as terrified and maybe slightly flattered. She conceded she hasn't seen the movie and had trouble even sitting through the trailer, terming the experience too weird."It wasn't until after the movie was already underway, with script written and filming in place, that she said she learned of Swiped.

"I even was asking my attorney two years ago, 'What do I do? I don't want a movie about me. Shut it down!'" Wolfe Herd said. She was advised there was not much she could do as she is a public figure and her life is based on information that's public. "They're going to do what they're going to do," she went on.

Even with her reservations, Wolfe Herd confirmed that she was honored to have been represented by Lily James, complimenting the actress's ability. Nevertheless, she asserted that the discomfort of viewing her life dramatized trumps any feeling of vanity.

For the time being, she states that she hasn't yet made up her mind about sitting down and watching the movie but joked that she would

"get some popcorn and tune in."

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Details on Whitney Wolfe Herd and Swiped movie explored

Whitney Wolfe Herd is now one of the best-known figures in the tech space after a decade working in the industry. Growing up in Salt Lake City in 1989, she graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in international studies before becoming part of the team that created Tinder in 2012.

As vice president of marketing, she helped make the app widely known, including creating its name.

After leaving Tinder in 2014 amid legal disputes and personal challenges, Wolfe Herd founded Bumble, a women-centered dating app designed to put women in control of initiating conversations. Launched in December 2014, the app quickly gained popularity, reaching millions of users and reshaping the online dating market.

Her leadership at Bumble has made her widely recognized. She was featured on Forbes' 30 Under 30, featured in the Time 100 list, and in 2021, she became the youngest woman to lead a company to go public in the U.S. when Bumble went public on the Nasdaq. She was also hailed as the world's youngest female billionaire at the time.

Today, Whitney Wolfe Herd is still a top-profile name in the tech and business sector. Having briefly taken on the position of executive chair in 2024, she once again took on the position of CEO at Bumble in March 2025.

Swiped, which was written and directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg, follows Whitney Wolfe Herd's journey from co-founding Tinder to founding Bumble, amidst struggles in a masculine-dominated field.

Lily James plays the role of Wolfe Herd, with Dan Stevens, Myha'la, and Jackson White also appearing. The film also features enactments of other key players in the dating app industry, including Tinder co-founders Justin Mateen and Sean Rad.

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The movie was released on September 9, 2025, at the Toronto International Film Festival during the Gala Presentations segment. It was later released in the United States on Hulu and worldwide on Disney+ on September 19, 2025.