Is Swiped inspired by real events? Details from the Hulu film explored

Swiped is a biographical drama directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg and written by Goldenberg, Bill Parker, and Kim Caramele. Produced by Lily James, Andrew Panay, and Jennifer Gibgot, the film had its world premiere on September 9, 2025, in the Gala Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was released the same day on Hulu. Here's the official synopsis:

Whitney Wolfe uses extraordinary grit and ingenuity to break into the male-dominated tech industry.

Let us find out if the film is based on a real-life story or not.

Swiped is based on Whitney Wolfe Herd

Swiped is based on the life of entrepreneur White Wolfe Herd, who worked for Tinder and eventually founded her own dating app, Bumble. Bringing her story to life on screen is Lily James, who plays her in the film.

Herd is known for bringing a major change in the dating app scene. Her app Bumble allows women to message their matches first. This means that men can't initiate a conversation unless the woman wants to. Before this, she was also one of the founding members of Tinder. The film features several real-life characters, including Herd's husband, Michael Herd (played by Pierson Fodé), Bumble co-founder Andrey Andreev (Dan Stevens), Tinder co-founders Sean Rad (Ben Schnetzer) and Justin Mateen (played by Jackson White), among others.

While the film chronicles Herd's life, it clearly mentions that events have been fictionalized to dramatize things. She also did not participate in the film because of her non-disclosure agreement. Despite that, Swiped also touches upon her filing a lawsuit against Tinder for s*xual harassment that was directed towards Mateen and Rad.

The film also showcases the text exchange between Mateen and Herd after the two broke up. They featured Mateen also trying to threaten all the men she was seeing after him. The screenshot of their conversation was included in the lawsuit. The film also showcases a true account of how Herd had pitched a teen girl-based dating app to Andrey Andreev called Merci. While the pitch was rejected, Andreev encouraged her to work on a new application.

She originally considered naming the app Moxie, but it was ultimately changed to Bumble, a name Herd initially disliked. While the film draws from real events, it also introduces fictional elements. One of these is Myha’la’s character, Tisha, who pushes Herd to embrace greater inclusivity. The movie also alters Herd’s response to cofounder Andrey Andreev’s controversies over tax evasion and allegations of abuse at Bumble. In the film, she openly condemns his actions. In reality, however, Herd distanced herself from him, maintaining that she had never personally witnessed such behaviour in the office.

Just like most biographies, this film also dramatizes and tweaks things to suit the format. The makers have openly stated in the disclaimer that it's a dramatized version of Herd's life and her business ventures.

Swiped is streaming on Hulu.