Hulu’s new film Swiped has drawn a lot of attention since its release. The movie stars Lily James as Whitney Wolfe Herd, the woman who reshaped the dating world and became a billionaire. The film follows Wolfe Herd’s journey from co-founding Tinder to creating Bumble, a dating app where women make the first move.
Directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg, Swiped shows the obstacles Wolfe Herd faced as a high-profile businesswoman. Lily James portrays her early days at Tinder, including receiving abusive texts from her ex-boyfriend and co-founder Justin Mateen, and being marginalized in company decisions before eventually leaving. Although Wolfe Herd could not participate in the film due to legal restrictions, critics have praised James for her performance.
Before founding Bumble in 2014, Wolfe Herd helped create Tinder in 2012 with Sean Rad, Justin Mateen, Jonathan Badeen, Joe Munoz, and Chris Gulczynski. While Tinder became a global success, Wolfe Herd’s experience there was marked by harassment and exclusion. These challenges motivated her to build Bumble, giving women control over initiating conversations.
In the film, viewers see Wolfe Herd struggling to assert herself in a male-dominated tech world, culminating in her lawsuit against Tinder. The movie includes real abusive texts from Mateen that fueled the legal dispute, blending fact with some dramatization.
Some parts of Swiped are fictionalized for dramatic effect. For example, the character ‘Tisha,’ played by Myha’la, does not exist in real life. She was added to give a Black woman’s perspective and highlight intersectionality in tech offices, a conversation that was often quiet in the 2010s. Similarly, Wolfe Herd’s climactic speech condemning Bumble co-founder Andrey Andreev is mostly fictional; in reality, her statements were more measured due to legal obligations.
After leaving Tinder, Wolfe Herd moved to Austin, Texas, and launched Bumble with support from Andreev and a small team. The film dramatizes the app’s creation to emphasize the positive, collaborative culture she fostered, contrasting with her experience at Tinder. Bumble quickly gained popularity, reaching 1 million users in its first year and growing to nearly 40 million active monthly users today.
