In a new interview, writer, actor and producer Mindy Kaling addressed rumors that her children's father is her former co-star, co-producer and fellow writer from The Office—B.J. Novak.
She said in an interview with Marie Claire:
"It doesn't bother me."
Kaling's children, Katherine (4) and Spencer (1), have long been rumored to be Novak's children. Kaling is notoriously private about her family life so rumors abound.
Elaborating on her point, Kaling continued:
"He’s the godparent to both my kids—and they have such a great relationship—and so far [the rumors haven’t] affected my happiness at all, it hasn’t affected my kids or B.J.”
Kaling and Novak first met during the filming of The Office in 2004. Kaling played customer service representative Kelly Kapoor while Novak began the series as office temp Ryan Howard.
They've been inseparable ever since, often in ways hard to define.
Novak said in a 2012 Vulture interview:
“No one, including us, ever really knew, ‘Is this dating? Is this not dating?’"
"We were never really dating, we were never really not dating."
"All you’d know for sure was that you’d always find one of us next to the other, even if we weren’t getting along.”
In the Marie Claire interview, Kaling addressed the continued interest in Novak's rumored paternal link to her children.
"If that’s what is going to be titillating to people, I’ll take it.”
It certainly continues to stay a topic of discussion for people.
Me: What people do in their homes and with their bodies is no one else’s business.
Also me, almost daily: IS BJ NOVAK THE FATHER OF MINDY KALING’S KIDS??!??
— Maggie McGlamry (@mmcglamry) August 5, 2022
Guys what if we never find out whether Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak secretly have kids together :////
— Abe’s Mom (@itsmadamin) May 15, 2022
How much is it gonna cost for someone to violate HIPAA and tell me if BJ Novak is the father of Mindy Kaling’s kids? I promise I won’t tell the tabloids, I just have to know for my own personal reasons.
— katerina (@ktredwhite) August 11, 2022
not rooting for the bj novak coded love interest in a mindy kaling show and expecting endgame like be serious for a second
— b (@annabethspvrcy) August 12, 2022
mindy kaling: i do not have any semblance of romantic relationship with bj novak and he is not the father of my children
everyone on the internet: they’re so cute they’re going to get married one day and he’s totally the father of her children
— two time emmy nominee sydney sweeney (@thenoasletter) August 12, 2022
I really can’t get over the article today on CNN where Mindy Kaling states she’s not bothered that people think BJ Novak is her kid’s dad.
Well Mindy, I wouldn’t be pissed if people were guessing right either. 😂😂
— Alaska (@isahurricane65) August 10, 2022
They are such a cute couple…And look at the way they are gazing at each other!!😍 If they are not “together” they should be!! Or at least go get a room…but wait- maybe they already have! “Godfather,”indeed!😉
Quick, someone call Maury Povich!!#YouAreTheFather#TheOffice#Love
— Shay (@ShayS426) August 10, 2022
However, many people are also reacting with a shrug and a wish for Kaling and Novak's happiness in whatever relationship configuration they have.
Why bother? People have already made up their minds anyways
— Kierra Dockery (@bigdockenergi) August 10, 2022
The rumors have been going on since Kaling's eldest was born, with some people becoming impatient to know the genetic donors' identities.
But modern medicine provides many options for the path to parenthood. The assumption there is a "father" for Kaling's children is a bit antiquated.
As Kaling told Marie Claire, she doesn't plan on discussing her children's parentage until they are older.
“[O]ld enough to talk to me about it and [tell me] how they want me to talk about it.”
“I’m the only parent my kids have."
"I think I err on the side of super cautious so that there’s less things that they can potentially be mad at me about down the line.”
Until then some people are still going to choose to be curious.
mindy kaling is never beating the bj novak allegations and honestly i need one of them to just tell me at this point
— elham (@elhammohamud) August 11, 2022
Do you lot realise that if BJ Novak were the father of Mindy Kaling's kids, he would be loudly talking about them as HIS KIDS too?!
— flophouse jones (@annarose460) August 11, 2022
So keep on wondering until Kaling's children get older, folks.
@GavinNewsom/X
