B.J. Novak recently shared a touching moment about meeting his longtime best friend Mindy Kaling’s newest addition to her family, baby Anne. The Office star, 44, who is also the godfather to Mindy’s two older children, couldn’t contain his excitement during an interview with People. When asked if he had met baby Anne yet, B.J. responded with enthusiasm, “Of course.” He added, “She is adorable and the best.”
Mindy, 45, surprised her fans last month by announcing the birth of her third child, a daughter named Anne, born in late February. The actress shared the news on her 45th birthday through an Instagram post that featured the first glimpse of baby Anne, albeit with her face obscured.
Having kept her pregnancy entirely under wraps, Mindy also revealed her baby bump for the first time with a photo of herself cradling her stomach in a floral maternity dress. She rounded off the post with a touching hospital photo showing her two eldest children, Katherine, six, and Spencer, three, lying at her feet.
“In late February, I gave birth to my daughter, Anne. She’s the best birthday present I could’ve ever imagined,” Mindy began in her heartfelt message. “When things are hard, whenever I veer towards cynicism, my three kids are such a great reminder of the pure joy in my life. I’m so lucky I live in a place where I could do this by myself, on my own timeline. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!”
The star of The Mindy Project has yet to reveal the identity of her children’s father, leading to widespread speculation that B.J. might be the father of Katherine and Spencer. Mindy addressed this in a 2019 interview with The New York Times, saying: “My feeling is that, until I speak to my daughter about that, I’m not going to talk to anyone else about it.”
In a 2022 interview with Marie Claire, she insisted that the speculation “doesn’t bother” her, explaining, “He’s the godparent to both my kids – and they have such a great relationship.” Mindy has often spoken about B.J.’s close bond with her children. “He’s very good with children,” she gushed on Entertainment Tonight in 2022. “He literally wrote a best-selling book called The Book With No Pictures for kids.”
Reflecting on their special friendship, Mindy added, “It comes very innately to him, you know, like being with children. So he’s a great godfather.”
The pair met in the early 2000s while working on the set of NBC’s hit sitcom The Office, which ran from 2005 to 2013. Alongside being principal writers, they also starred as Kelly Kapoor and Ryan Howard, later becoming executive producers. Though they dated on and off from 2004 to 2007, they ultimately decided that they were better as close friends.
After B.J., Mindy dated author Benjamin Nugent from 2008 to 2012. Since then, she has kept her dating life out of the public eye, focusing on motherhood instead.
In a 2019 interview with Glamour, Mindy opened up about her journey to motherhood. “I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but I would have put it off and put it off. I’m happy that it happened when it did,” she shared. “I would have put it off indefinitely. I’ve seen firsthand the heartbreak of women who have waited to get pregnant [and then it doesn’t happen].”
Mindy’s late mother, Swati, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2012, was a significant inspiration to her. “For me, my relationship with my mother was such an integral part of my life. Thinking back on our relationship is still such a huge source of my happiness day-to-day, so I’m so grateful for having Katherine,” she explained.
Like Anne’s secret arrival, Mindy has previously surprised fans with news of her expanding family. In 2017, she confirmed her pregnancy with Katherine after Oprah Winfrey spilled the news several months prior. Reflecting on her first pregnancy, she told Sunday Today, “It’s so unknown to me. I have a lot of control over a lot of aspects of my life, and this is one where I’m like, ‘OK, it’s out of my hands,’ which is kind of a fun feeling.”
She didn’t announce her second pregnancy either, once again surprising the world when she revealed she had given birth to Spencer in 2020.
Since introducing Anne to the world, Mindy has shared glimpses of her life as a mother of three on Instagram. For the recent Fourth of July holiday, she took her children to the beach to celebrate. “A sandy/salty skin/no makeup/freezing cold perfect waves/lots of sunscreen/frosting/outside for hours kind of Independence Day,” she captioned the post, which included a sweet photo of baby Anne resting in her lap.
Source: People, The New York Times, Marie Claire, Entertainment Tonight, Glamour, Instagram
