Whitney Wolfe Herd is getting the biopic treatment — whether she likes it or not.
The Bumble founder, 36, shared her true feelings about the Hulu film “Swiped” based on her life starring Lily James.
“So, I can’t make it through the whole trailer, it’s too weird for me,” Herd said in a CNBC interview on Friday.
“No, I’m not involved in it,” the entrepreneur explained of the project. “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!’”
But Herd recalled her lawyer telling her: “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.”
Herd admitted that she doesn’t know if she’s going to watch the movie, which came out Friday.
“I’m obviously both terrified and maybe slightly flattered?” she shared. “But I think the strangeness and the fear of it outweighs any flattery. Listen, we’ll just see. I guess I gotta get some popcorn and stay tuned.”
“But I am honored that they chose Lily James,” Herd added, “she’s a very talented actress.”
Directed by Rachel Lee Goldbenberg, “Swiped” follows Herd’s rise to fame from co-founding Tinder and then founding Bumble. She became the world’s youngest female billionaire when she took Bumble public in Feb. 2021.
Hulu’s description for the film reads, “Inspired by the provocative real-life story of the visionary founder of online dating platform Bumble, ‘Swiped’ introduces recent college grad Whitney Wolfe, played by Lily James, as she uses extraordinary grit and ingenuity to break into the male-dominated tech industry and launch an innovative, globally lauded dating app (two, actually), paving the way to becoming the youngest female self-made billionaire.”
Goldbenberg, 41, recently told Time that the biopic “is inspired by, not based on” Wolfe’s story.
“We’re shaping that research, and using as much truth and accuracy as we can, and then also focusing on the emotional truth,” the director added.
At the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month, James, 36, said it was “really inspiring” to play Wolfe in “Swiped.”
“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,” the “Pam & Tommy” star told Deadline.
“And I went down a rabbit hole, obviously, of research and learning everything I could about her, and I’ve found her to be truly inspiring and a trailblazer,” James continued. “It’s been a really meaningful experience getting to kind of step into her shoes and recreate and dramatize this story in our film.”
“Swiped” is streaming on Hulu.
