What Mindy Kaling thinks of the rumors that B.J. Novak is her kids’ father
Mindy Kaling pays no mind to rumors surrounding her and B.J. Novak’s relationship — especially when it involves her two children.
The “Never Have I Ever” creator is mother to 4-year-old daughter Katherine and 1-year-old son Spencer. While she has never publicly identified her kids’ father, over the years many people have speculated that it could be Novak, 43.
The two former “The Office” co-stars met on the NBC comedy in 2004. They briefly dated while on the show, before splitting in 2007 and have remained close friends ever since.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Kaling, 43, told Marie Claire magazine in a new interview published on Tuesday about rumors that Novak is her children’s father. “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.”
“If that’s what is going to be titillating to people, I’ll take it,” she added.
Kaling first revealed that Novak was her daughter’s godparent in a 2019 “Good Housekeeping” interview.
“B.J. is so much more like family now than a platonic friend,” she said at the time. “He’s the godfather to my daughter, he comes over like once a week. Sometimes he’ll come over just to hang out with her.”
After “The Mindy Project” star secretly welcomed her baby boy in 2020, Novak also became Spencer’s godfather. Weeks after giving birth to baby No. 2, Kaling opened up to Jenna Bush Hager on TODAY with Hoda and Jenna about how much the actor adores her children and takes his godfather role seriously.
“You know, he said the funniest thing because he’s so attached to my older child, my daughter,” Kaling said. “When I said, you know, ‘B.J., if something happens to me, it’s not like I have a husband, like you have to just take the kids.’ And he’s like ‘Oh, my God, don’t tempt me.’”
“He said the funniest thing, he was like, ‘Can you sue for god-paternity rights?’” she added. “... He just loves her so much.”
Though they might have a platonic relationship, the two constantly support one another. Kaling recently attended the July premiere of Novak’s new movie “Vengeance” in Los Angeles. They were also each other’s dates at the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscars party. In November, 2021, the actor also stepped out to support Kaling’s new HBO Max series, “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” at its Los Angeles premiere.
Kaling, meanwhile, spoke about her two children while on Tuesday's episode of the TODAY show. While speaking with Craig Melvin she joked that her “4-year-old is a little bit of a tattle tale.”
“I’m excited because she was a little indifferent to her younger brother and now he’s really useful to her because she can be like, ‘Mom, he ate a pretzel off the floor. Get him in trouble!’” she said.
Adding, “I’m like, ‘It’s OK. We don’t have to narc on our little brother. He’s not hurting anyone that he’s eating the pretzel off the floor.’”