Staff at dating app Bumble’s billionaire owner’s London HQ ‘held wild cocaine-fuelled parties with prostitutes and female workers were routinely discussed in terms of their appearance’
- Forbes spoke to 13 former employees who claimed they experienced ‘misogyny’
- They allegedly saw images of drug-fueled parties involving Badoo employees
- The company’s founder Andrey Andreev was also the subject of allegations
- Andreev co-founded Bumble, a dating app aimed at women, with Whitney Wolfe Herd, who is now one of America’s richest self-made women
- She left Tinder, which she also helped create, in 2014 citing sexual harassment by her co-founder and ex-boyfriend Justin Matee
- Badoo and Andreev stringently denied the allegations dating from early 2010s
Former employees of dating app Badoo say staff at its London HQ held wild cocaine-fueled parties with prostitutes while female workers faced discrimination and comments about their appearance, according to an explosive new report.
A total of 13 former employees told Forbes that women at the company were frequently subjected to ‘misogyny’ and were ‘routinely discussed in terms of their appearance.’
Several of those interviewed said they had knowledge of parties at which ‘everyone was naked and doing lines of coke’.
The parties were allegedly so wild that they were frequently discussed on company emails – with photos and videos of the drug-fueled binges routinely being shared.
One video which did the rounds reportedly showed an employee receiving oral sex from a prostitute.
The incidents allegedly took place between 2011 and 2012, some six years after Badoo was founded and during a phase of rapid growth.
One person told Forbes they saw a picture of a gathering featuring several employees: ‘Everyone was naked and doing lines of coke, and they were sending these photos over the internal email system.’
The company’s founder Andrey Andreev (left) was also the subject of several allegations. He co-founded Bumble, a dating app aimed at women, with Whitney Wolfe Herd (right). She co-founded Tinder, but left the company in 2014, claiming sexual harassment by her co-founder and ex-boyfriend Justin Matee
The former Badoo office in Soho, London which served as the company’s headquarters at the time of the alleged incidents in 2011 and 2012
A private Facebook group of about 200 Badoo alumni also contains references to the gatherings.
‘I wonder if current Badoo’s know of the after parties with prostitutes and cocaine in all their offices,’
‘I miss the days of Ketamine infused after parties in Badoo,’ another said in a message.
Jessica Powell, Badoo’s chief marketing officer from 2011 to 2012, said she was once asked to give a designer candidate a massage.
She refused but said ‘female employees were routinely discussed in terms of their appearance.’
Andrey Andreev the company’s Russian founder also called women ‘cyka’ – meaning ‘b***h’ in his native tongue – according to Powell.
Badoo was founded in 2006 and was in a period of rapid growth at the time of the alleged incidents
Andreev is also accused of making remarks about the company’s predominantly Latino userbase.
When it launched in the US earlier this decade he reportedly said that ‘white is always better’ – a former marketing executive claimed.
He also allegedly rejected a job candidate last year for being ‘too fat’.
‘No, she’s fat. Can you imagine her speaking to the press and being the face of Badoo?’ One former employee quoted him as saying.
Andreev denied the allegations to Forbes and said diversity was ‘at the core of our brands’.
He set up Badoo in 2006 and also took a leading role in the launch of Bumble. According to Forbes his net worth is now $1.5 billion.
A spokesperson for MagicLab, Badoo’s holding company, told MailOnline: ‘MagicLab is a family of brands that are built off of diversity and thrive in addressing societal issues by building relationships all over the world.
‘We are extremely disappointed in the reckless reporting of the Forbes reporter. Not a single current employee is quoted, our fact-check corrections were largely ignored, and the journalist refused to talk to dozens of former and current employees who came forward to counter the sensationalist narrative of only a few former disgruntled employees.’