Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is facing a situation that few tech executives ever encounter: watching her own life story dramatized on screen — without her involvement.
“I even was asking my lawyer two years ago, ‘What do I do? I don’t want a movie made about me. Shut it down!’” Herd recalled.
As she acknowledged, public figures often have little legal recourse to stop projects based on publicly known stories.
The experience has been unsettling. Wolfe Herd said she finds the idea of a movie about her life “too weird,” confessing she hasn’t been able to watch the trailer all the way through. At the same time, she expressed some appreciation for the casting choice, calling it an “honor” to be portrayed by James. Still, the mix of emotions has left her conflicted.
“I’m obviously both terrified and maybe slightly flattered,” she said. “But the strangeness and the fear of it outweighs any flattery.”
These projects try to infuse the adrenaline of Silicon Valley invention with the staidness of business reality. And Wolfe Herd’s career—with its combination of early success, controversy, and ultimately a billion-dollar IPO—fits neatly into the genre.
But success doesn’t always mean control over your own story. Hulu’s film, directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg and drawing extensively from public records, lawsuits, and media accounts, bypassed Wolfe Herd’s participation from the start. Some critics have described the movie as entertaining but “thin,” relying on the broader narrative of girlboss ascent while acknowledging the lack of deep input from its subject.
For Wolfe Herd, the challenge is less about accuracy than about the loss of agency. As someone who built her career by upending traditional dynamics and giving women more control over their interactions online, having no say in how her own story is told feels dissonant.
She admits she may eventually watch the film, but not without hesitation.
“I guess I gotta get some popcorn and stay tuned,” she said with a wry resignation.
