mindy kaling has finally addressed the endless speculation about the paternity of her two children.
Fans have long peddled rumors Kaling’s office Cost BJ Novak is the father of her daughter Katherine, four, and one-year-old son Spencer.
The 43-year-old has never confirmed the biological father and has consistently said Novak – who she briefly dated in 2007 – is simply the godparent to her toddlers.
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In an interview with MarieClaire, Kaling admitted she isn’t fazed by the constant questions about her children’s paternity.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Kaling told the magazine about the speculation long-time friend and former co-star Novak is her baby daddy.
“He’s the godparent to both my kids– and they have such a great relationship – and so far [the rumours 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.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Kaling said she is proud of breaking the stigma of a single woman having children on her own.
“Culture largely says, ‘We don’t want to hear about you. Your entire deal bums everyone out.’ If you’re 42-year-old [single] woman with kids, it makes people sad… I’m like, ‘There is hope for us’,” she continued.
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“There could be great stories about women, like me, finding love, finding happiness… I can’t imagine anyone besides me would write it, so I have to find the time to do that.”
Kaling has explained in the past about why she has chosen to keep the identity of her kids’ father a secret
In an interview with New York Times after her daughter’s birth in 2019, the Mindy Project actress said she will keep it private until her daughter is old enough.
“My feeling is that until I speak to my daughter about that, I’m not going to talk to anyone else about it,” she said.
“I’m the only parent my kids have,” she added. “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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Kaling also prefers to keep her children anonymous on social media, only sharing photos of the back of their heads on Instagram.
She is, however, happy to share about how Novak plays a fatherly role in her son and daughter’s lives.
kaling awning good morning america in 2020 that the actor is “so much more like family now than a platonic friend”.
Novak was also part of Kaling’s “pandemic pod” during the COVID-19 lockdown. “He’s great with kids,” she said at the time, “and so it’s been really nice to have his energy in the house.”
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