Lily James will step into the shoes of one of history's most epic female entrepreneurs in upcoming Disney+ film Swiped, which tells the story of Whitney Wolfe Herd, who co-founded Tinder and went on to found Bumble as a feminist statement against the male-dominated dating app space.
The film will cover the campaign Whitney helmed at Tinder after discovering misogynist behaviour on the app, which led her to strike out on her own and found Bumble, where women could make the first move and take more control of the dating conversation. She also became the world's youngest female billionaire when the app went public.
Last year, Lily – who is also a producer on the film – posted on Instagram confirming her role as Whitney, her caption reading: “#itsyourmove You heard it here first,” adding a quote attributed to Herd: "Feminism is not about girl power. It's about equal power."
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Here's everything we know so far about Swiped.
Swiped plot
Disney's plot synopsis for this exciting movie reads as follows: “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.”
Whitney's departure from Tinder also reportedly involved accusations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
In the trailer, we see signs of the issues female users experienced when it came to unsolicited sexual photos on the app, and Whitney's attempt to change the culture from the inside of the company, before deciding to found Bumble.
Swiped cast
Joining Lily on the Swiped cast will be Jackson White, Industry's Myha’la, Ben Schnetzer, Pierson Fodé, Clea DuVall, Pedro Correa, Ian Colleti, Coral Peña, and Dan Stevens.
Swiped release date
The film will drop on Disney+ on 19 September.
Swiped trailer
The trailer sets the scene for some serious drama, with James' Whitney quickly being informed by a coworker of the “pervasive dick pics” being sent over Tinder, and reporting this behaviour makes no difference.
We see Whitney's attempts to create a revolution against toxic, misogynistic attitudes towards dating are rebuffed, facing being cut out from the company that she helped create by men who downplay the issue and suggest that these reports of unsolicited pictures are coming from women who have been rejected.
Enter Bumble. The film goes deep on the booming tech industry at the time, and Whitney's mission to "change the rules of online dating”.
