‘WeCrashed’ Is Far Too Kind to Adam and Rebekah Neumann

It wasn’t long after I finished Apple TV+’s WeCrashed that I rewatched Hulu’s WeWork documentary. It wasn’t for research; it was to reassure myself I wasn’t going insane. WeCrashed tells the story of two visionaries whose larger-than-life ideas were too grand for the world. But the limited series takes its humanizing mission too far. WeCrashed is so interested in capturing Adam and Rebekah Neumann’s romance that it fails to accurately show the real, human pain this failed company caused.

WeCrashed is as much of a love story as it is one about business. It starts when Adam (Jared Leto) and Rebekah (Anne Hathaway) meet. He’s an entrepreneur who is desperate to make it big, whether that means inventing kneepads for babies or shoes with removable heels. She’s an aspiring actress with a new age philosophy and a keen sense for authenticity. In those basic strokes, WeCrashed does seem to drill into something true. The real Adam and Rebekah Neumann did seem to have the sort of relationship that made them greater than the sum of their parts, leading Adam to become the cult-like leader he always wanted to be and Rebekah to strive for more.

Of course, both Leto and Hathaway are excellent at nailing that story. Anne Hathaway has long been an actor so great that she’s prompted undeserved anger for merely being good at her job. Her turn as Rebekah makes the character feel infuriating yet oddly sympathetic. As for Leto, his manic energy and dedication to character is wonderfully utilized in this series. He even perfects Adam’s accent. Watching them often feels like watching the Hollywood-perfect version of the real Neumanns. The problem is that this story of love and ambition is only half of WeWork’s saga.

What’s lost in this series are the stories of the workers who made up this community. At the height of its power, the real WeWork was valued at $47 billion. That $47 billion wasn’t proof of Adam Neumann’s brilliance. It represented hard work, lost hours, and hopeful dreams from hundreds of employees. Adam and Rebekah often spoke about WeWork as if their real estate company was serving a higher purpose. That became a core belief for many of their employees. It wasn’t uncommon for workers to start their Monday at 7 a.m. and leave at 3 a.m. Other employees took their devotion a step further, working at WeWork and living in WeLive facilities. For so many people, WeWork became their life. They were owed honesty about this company they loved. Instead, they were given lies.

It was discovered that this power couple would routinely manipulate their numbers, lying to investors and employees to make them think that WeWork was profitable. Following its controversial S-1 and Adam Neumann’s forced resignation, its $47 billion valuation dropped to $10 billion. Despite his many misdirections, Adam walked away with $1.7 billion as a payout from SoftBank. Most of his devoted employees walked away with nothing. They risked nearly everything they could for Adam’s dream, putting their financial lives and reputations at risk. Some gave years of their lives, time that they will never be able to get back. In return, they weren’t even treated with basic respect.

The real Adam and Rebekah didn’t do anything legally wrong. But it’s hard to tell this story without being appalled by their sins. Whether it was an accident that came from growing too quickly or it was intentional, these founders who proclaimed to value community above all else misled and abandoned the community they created. No matter how you cut it, that’s gross. And it’s an essential angle WeCrashed is missing.

WeCrashed does touch on the the ways WeWork hurt its workers. It shows employees buying purses they can’t afford, people putting their lives on hold for a new and insane-sounding experiments, and hours slipping by as others are swept into Adam’s web of mania. But it doesn’t dwell on this pain enough. If multiple episodes can focus on Rebekah feeling insecure, then there’s room to explore what happened to the people who were hurt most by this company. This isn’t a story that deserved to become a fairy tale. For many, it was a corporate horror story.

New episodes of WeCrashed premiere on Apple TV+ on Fridays. 

Watch WeCrashed on Apple TV+