We’ve never learned the identity of Mindy Kaling’s baby daddy. To be clear, it’s none of my business and none of yours either. But of course it’s human nature to wonder and theorize. I once did a mildly deep dive into the time of conception. I figured out a three-week block of time when Mindy likely would have conceived her daughter Katherine, and she was probably in New Zealand (filming A Wrinkle In Time) around that time. She also came back to LA for the Oscars and she attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party with… BJ Novak. My guess was that the baby daddy is A) Chris Pine, B) some Kiwi rando or C) BJ Novak.
Truly, I’ve never wanted to admit that BJ Novak is the most likely candidate, because their relationship bugs the crap out of me, as I’ve said before. They used to date, and he dumped her and she was devastated. They eventually repaired their friendship and now they do the creepy “we’re best friends but maybe we’re still romantically interested in each other” thing. I find the whole thing to be so dysfunctional and unhealthy, but I’m saying that mostly because I like Mindy and I identify with her and I wish she would just move on from him completely. Again, I know I take this too personally. Come and join me!
But here’s some mildly good news, I think? BJ Novak is probably not Katherine’s father. Probably not because… generally, people don’t ask the FATHER to be the godfather.
Ever since they appeared as Kelly Kupoor and Ryan Howard on The Office, the world can’t stop shipping Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak. In fact, both of the actors get asked constantly if they’re secretly dating, and rumors only intensified after Mindy gave birth to her daughter, Katherine, and decided not to reveal her father (a total badass move, if you ask us).
“If I was on the outside looking at it, I would think the same thing,” she told GoodHousekeeping.com at a luncheon for her year-long partnership with DSW. “But the truth is that B.J. is so much more like family now than a platonic friend. 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.”
STOP BEING SO DYSFUNCTIONAL. Gawd. You will never be able to move on from your ex if you continue to do this dysfunctional, mindf–king dance with him more than a decade after the breakup. Anyway, so is BJ Novak the father? I guess it could be a feint – he could be the father, but they’ve agreed to keep it a secret and Mindy wanted Novak to have some kind of formal title in her daughter’s life, so now he’s the “godfather.” Lord, I’ve never been so hopeful that an Indian girl got impregnated by a Kiwi rando.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.
I’m with you, Kaiser.
I love them together in theory, I guess. But I really want to see her do better than BJ. If they hadn’t had the breakup before, I think I’d feel differently. But I’ve always liked Mindy, (and BJ for the most part, too) and I really want to see her thoroughly happy. And I worry that she has him on a pedestal and it makes it harder for her to move on, or something. Who knows. Maybe she’s perfectly content and they are just really really good friends. But I always get the vibe that they’re still on and off.
Or she used a donor and there is no legal “father” per say? I’m really not sure this story is an interesting as some people seem to think it is.
I think she HAS said that it was a surprise.
Yes, I think you’re right. So, no donor if it was a surprise.
This is my theory as well. Maybe she just wanted a child with no suitable potential fathers on the horizon. I just wish she posted more pics, I get why she doesn’t but with her cheeks I’m sure she made an adorable baby.
If she did use a donor, part of me wishes she would make that public to support other women who want children and are scared to go it alone. I have several friends who really want children but don’t want to do it alone because they think there is a stigma associated with it.
Her descriptions of him and stories about their relationship in her books make him unintentionally (I think) look like such a douche.
My guess is artificial insemination.
I think she probably wanted a child and went the donor route. I think it’d be weird to talk about the father of your child like they’re their godfather, right? I get it for privacy purposes, but still.
I’m sure he’s not the father, why would he want make a baby with her?? And why would she ask him to?? The guy who rejected her romantically million years ago? He’s what, last man on earth? So random. I bet he is not sleeping with her, has purely friendly feelings for her. Like, why would he involve himself in such a mess like raising a common child? He doesn’t strike me like someone desperate for a child.
She probably used a donor , good for her. Someone young and with better sperm than Novak. Nothing against him, but the age of parents matters for a healthy child.
She needs to give the story a rest – no one cares.
I read plenty of stuff I don’t comment on. I care about Mindy and BJ.
I think she went the AI route and used a donor. I also think her relationship with BJ is unhealthy, and I get user vibes from him- he seems to ride her coattails a lot.
Oh yeah. This 1000x
Ditto to all of this, Laughysaphy: she used AI, I hate that she still lets him in her life, and he’s totally trying to use her to stay relevant.
“I think she went the AI route”
I read that as *Artificial Intelligence” at first..and thought “She was impregnated by a ROBOT?” lol Still a better choice than BJ.
Or he could be the donor. I have a friend who’s good friend donated so she could have a baby on her own. He’s taken on an uncle/godfather role and comes over to help out once a week or so. It’s really quite lovely because they’d agreed on zero expectations as far as his involvement (legal or financial as well) and he ended up being a support person throughout the pregnancy and beyond. Which was surprising because no one expected him to want to be involved, he was just doing our friend a solid. So, who knows what the situation is for Mindy and BJ but if her daughter has more people that care about her in her life then that’s a good thing.
This makes a lot of sense to me.
If it were Chris Pine, I don’t think she could have kept that a secret. I think she would have dropped hints everywhere to let everyone know she bagged a Chris and to make BJ Novak jealous because lord, Pine is a huge step up from him. I am going with donor.
I actually think it makes complete sense to name him the godfather even if he is the biological father. By calling him the godfather BJ has an official and easily explainable fatherly role in her child’s life, but at the same time has no legal claim to the child. This way if her relationship sours with him again she can easily sever ties.
If either is still hung up on each other, it’s not healthy, but if they’ve both moved on and are really good friends, then that’s great.
It’s amazing to me in this day and age that any celebrities are able to keep a secret like that, but there have been a few famous women who have kept the father of their children under wraps. And good for them, if that’s what they choose.
Their relationship really bothers me too!! All the articles on how swoon-worthy their friendship is bugs me, because the power dynamic between them always feels OFF. I feel like she’s so incredibly invested in being his ‘best friend’ but that, given the chance, she would 100% be with him romantically again. He totally gives me the douchey vibe of a guy who likes this woman’s company but never saw her as the love of his life and now mainly enjoys what a pedestal she places him on.
Agree to all of this. He gets all the benefits of having her in his life, with none of the commitment needed for a real relationships. She gets to pine away for him and convinces herself one day he will see that they should be together. I have seen relationships like this in real life and I always want to shake the person being used.
It’s a Taylor Swift-style ballad for the over-30s.
They def monetized their relationship so it’s hard to tell if it’s authentic
I think it was a one night stand or hook-up situation. She keeps saying the pregnancy was a surprise so I’m going to believe her. Has anyone actually seen her daughter?
Has anyone looked into the Cuba Gooding Jr. rumours? Because… I remember hearing the theory that he was the dad.
Lol. She only dates white men.
They seem codependent.
I am not a psychologist but doesn’t co-dependency require both people to need the other? There was a photo of them at a basketball game recently and the look on his face screamed “HELP ME.”
They have a strange dynamic, but I don’t think he is the father. I think they are just great friends who used to have a thing. The secrecy of the whole thing makes it all the more intriguing, but I’m guessing the clock was ticking and she got a donor.
My real father turned out to be my godfather. 😁. It happens.