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Is B.J. Novak the Father of Mindy Kaling’s Kids?

While Mindy, who first welcomed daughter Katherine in December 2017 and son Spencer in September 2020, has not outright confirmed or denied B.J.’s status as the father of her kids, she did share her thoughts on the rumors in August 2022.

“It doesn’t bother me,” the Office star told Marie Claire. “He’s the godparent to both my kids — and they have such a great relationship.”

“I’m the only parent my kids have,” she continued. “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.”

Mindy explained that the paternity rumors don’t bother her as long as they don’t hurt her family or B.J. “So [the speculation hasn’t] affected my happiness at all, it hasn’t affected my kids or B.J.,” she said before adding, “If that’s what is going to be titillating to people, I’ll take it.”

Mindy has chosen to keep details about her fertility journey private and plans to wait until her kids are “old enough to talk about it” before revealing the information publicly. However, she dropped a hint about going through the entire motherhood process by herself when she announced that she had secretly given birth to Anne.

“I’m so lucky I live in a place where I could do this by myself, on my own timeline,” the actress wrote in her Instagram caption.

Did Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak Date?

Mindy and B.J., who met while working as writers and actors on The Office in 2005, dated for three years and have continued to have a close friendship nearly 15 years after their split. However, they’ve had a complex relationship, which Mindy has been open about in the past.

“I will freely admit: My relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell,” the Inside Out star joked during an interview with InStyle in 2015. “He is not my boyfriend, but he is not my best friend. I guess you could describe our relationship as a ‘romantically charged camaraderie with loud arguments,’ but I don’t think Facebook would accept this as a new status.”

Meanwhile, the Vengeance star has also been open about his friendship with Mindy. “Whenever we date anyone else, I think there’s a period where the person is very skeptical of our friendship,” he told Entertainment Weekly in 2013. “‘Everyone seems to think you two might be a couple, and I don’t mean to get in the way. Are you sure you’re not dating? Are you sure you’re not going to end up dating?’ It’s such a common thing to have that platonic best friend that becomes a little weird when you start dating someone.”