TECHNOLOGY

Stepping into political fray, Austin's Bumble buys 'Believe Women' ad in New York Times

Nicole Cobler
ncobler@statesman.com
Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble CEO, chats with her staff at Bumble's Austin headquarters. Erika Rich/ for American-Statesman

One day after Christine Blasey Ford testified against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Austin-based dating app company Bumble took out a full-page ad in the New York Times that reads: “Believe Women.”

Whitney Wolfe Herd, the female-focused dating app’s founder and CEO, tweeted a photo of the page Friday and announced that the company will donate $25,000 to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

“We believe you,” Wolfe Herd tweeted. “And we want to help. @Bumble is making a $25K donation to @RAINN today in honor of survivors of sexual violence. #BelieveWomen #BelieveSurvivors.”

We believe you. And we want to help. @Bumble is making a $25K donation to @RAINN today in honor of survivors of sexual violence. #BelieveWomen #BelieveSurvivors pic.twitter.com/Z1fYljghRQ

— Whitney Wolfe Herd (@WhitWolfeHerd) September 28, 2018

Bumble’s ad comes after Ford testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, alleging that Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her at a house party in the 1980s. Kavanaugh repeatedly denied the allegations in his Senate testimony.

A spokeswoman for Bumble said the company is “letting the ad speak for itself” and will not be commenting further. Full-page ads with color in the New York Times cost about $130,000, the Associated Press reported last year.

The ad isn't the first time the company has weighed in on politics.

In the wake of the Florida school shooting that left 17 dead, Bumble banned pictures of guns in profile photos. The company faced backlash, but Wolfe Herd said she had no regrets.

“This is not a place for violence, for us to highlight violence,” Wolfe Herd said in a conversation with "CBS This Morning" host Gayle King during a SXSW conversation. “We will always put our values before our bottom line. End of story.”

The company, which has more than 40 million users worldwide, also banned shirtless selfies and misogynistic language. The app lets women interact only with the men they message first.