Mindy Kaling and her daughter visit planetarium with BJ Novak after addressing paternity rumours

Mindy Kaling and her daughter recently enjoyed a night out with her former boyfriend and The Office co-star, BJ Novak.

On 28 August, the Never Have I Ever creator shared photos from a trip to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles with her four-year-old daughter, Katherine “Kit” Swati, and Novak, who is also Katherine’s godfather.

“My four year old had the best night of her life at our star party + Saturn spotting at @griffithobservatory!” the 43-year-old captioned her Instagram post. “We kept her up way past her bedtime and it was worth it, even though it was cloudy last night.”

“Thank you @bjnovak for sharing your passion for astronomy and for @orionbearastronomy and @griffithobservatory for a spectacular night!” she wrote.

The series of photos included a selfie of Kaling flashing a peace sign, a sweet image of Katherine staring into a telescope, and a photo of Novak holding Kaling’s daughter as she pointed out something in the sky.

In addition to her four-year-old daughter, the Mindy Project star is also a mother to her son Spencer, who was born in September 2020. Since welcoming her daughter in December 2017, Kaling has chosen to keep the paternity of her two children private. However, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating that Novak may be their father.

In a recent interview with Marie Claire, Kaling addressed rumours that Novak, whom she is close friends with, was her children’s father. “It doesn’t bother me. [Novak] is 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,” she told the magazine.

“If that’s what is going to be titillating to people, I’ll take it,” she added.

The Massachusetts native also talked about being a single mother, and her decision to protect her children’s privacy. “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 explained.

“I’m the only parent my kids have. I think I err on the side of super cautious so that there’s less things they can potentially be mad at me about down the line.”

Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak first met while working as writers and actors on the US version of The Office in 2004. Shortly after, the two started dating. While Kaling and Novak ended their off-screen romance in 2007, the pair remained close friends until today.