Mindy Kaling is many things — an actress, comedian, writer, producer, director and mother of two — but, according to a new interview with Marie Claire, there’s one thing that she’s not: bothered, at least when it comes to rumours about her longtime friend B.J. Novak being her kids’ father.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Kaling, 43, told Marie Claire of the rumours that Novak is the father of her children, Katherine, 4, and Spencer, 23 months. “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 [BJ]… If that’s what is going to be titillating to people, I’ll take it.”
Related: The Mindy Project: Mindy Kaling’s style evolution.
While Novak, 43, and Kaling dated on-and-off during their days working on The Office, between 2004 and 2007, the two have remained close friends and frequent red carpet dates. The pair’s apparent closeness has led to speculation about Novak’s role in the kids’ paternity.
Despite the rumours that her silence on the subject has sparked, Kaling made the decision to keep the paternity of her children private for the time being for their benefit. According to Marie Claire, Kaling says she will speak publicly about her family’s journey at some point – once her kids feel that they are ready.
“I want them to be old enough to talk to me about it and [tell me] how they want me to talk about it,” she said. “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.”
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While Kaling isn’t bothered about whether or not people think that Novak is her kids’ dad, she has made their deep connection clear in the past. He is, as she wrote in her book Why Not Me, her “soup snake.”
What’s a soup snake? In a famous scene from The Office, Michael Scott tries to say that his ex is his soulmate, but accidentally says that they’re “soup snakes” before correcting himself to declare they’re soulmates.
“We’re soup snakes. B.J. and I are soup snakes,” Kaling wrote. “‘Soul mates’ is what you aim for, but soup snakes is what you get sometimes.”
