BJ Novak is speaking out about his longtime best friend Mindy Kaling’s daughter, weeks after she revealed she secretly welcomed her third child.
The Office star, 44, who is godfather to Kaling’s two oldest children, gushed over baby Anne while speaking to PEOPLE On Wednesday.
Asked if she had met Kaling’s little one yet, she replied, “Of course.”
Novak then added: “She is adorable and the best.”
Last month, Kaling, 45, surprised her fans when she announced that she had given birth to a daughter named Anne in late February.
BJ Novak speaks out about best friend Mindy Kaling’s daughter, weeks after she revealed she secretly welcomed a third child; seen in 2023
The mother of three did so in an Instagram post she published on her 45th birthday.
It included a first look at baby Anne, although the photo was taken to hide the newborn’s face.
After keeping her pregnancy completely under wraps, Kaling also revealed her baby bump for the first time by including a photo of herself holding her belly in a floral maternity dress.
She completed the post with a photo of herself in the hospital after giving birth with her two oldest children – daughter Katherine, six, and son Spencer, three – lying at her feet.
“At the end of February I gave birth to my daughter, Anne. It is the best birthday present I could have ever imagined,” Kaling began.
‘When things get tough, whenever I tend toward cynicism, my three children are a great reminder of the pure joy in my life.
“I’m so lucky to live in a place where I could do this on my own, on my own schedule. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!” the Mindy Project star concluded.
She has yet to reveal who the father of her three children is, but there has long been speculation that Novak is the father of Katherine and Spencer.
Kaling said The New York Times in 2019, before her son was born: ‘My feeling is that until I talk to my daughter about it, I’m not going to talk to anyone else about it.’
She also addressed the rampant speculation in an interview with Marie Claire in 2022, insisting that she is “not bothered by it.”
“He is the godfather of my two children and they have a wonderful relationship,” she said.
Last month, Kaling, 45, surprised fans when she announced she had welcomed a daughter named Anne in late February; she was spotted on July 4.
The Office star, 44, gushed over baby Anne while speaking to PEOPLE on Wednesday; Kaling and Novak are seen together in 2022
Novak is godfather to Kaling’s two oldest children: daughter Katherine and three-year-old son Spencer.
Kaling spoke about Novak’s close bond with her children while appearing on Entertainment Tonight in 2022.
“He’s so good with kids,” she enthused. “He literally wrote a best-selling children’s book called The Book Without Pictures.”
Kaling added: “It’s something that comes naturally to him, like being around children. That’s why he’s a great godfather.”
She and Novak met in the early 2000s while working on the set of NBC’s hit sitcom The Office, which aired from 2005 to 2013.
In addition to being among the head writers, Kaling and Novak also appeared on The Office as customer service representative Kelly Kapoor and intern-turned-con artist Ryan Howard, respectively.
Later in their career, the duo became executive producers.
Kaling and Novak dated on and off from 2004 to 2007 before deciding they were better off as close friends.
After Novak, Kaling dated author Benjamin Nugent from 2008 to 2012.
Since then, she has kept her love life out of the spotlight and has instead focused on motherhood.
In an interview with Glamor In 2019, the Ocean’s 8 actress spoke about her decision to become a mother.
“I always knew I wanted to be a mother, but I kept putting it off. I’m glad it happened when it did,” she told the publication.
Kaling has yet to reveal who the father of her three children is, but there has long been speculation that Novak is the father of Katherine and Spencer.
Kaling announced Anne’s arrival in an Instagram post that was published on her 45th birthday. It included a first look at the newborn with her siblings.
After keeping her pregnancy completely under wraps, Kaling also revealed her baby bump for the first time by including a photo of herself cradling her belly in a floral maternity dress.
She completed the post with a photo of herself in the hospital after giving birth with her two oldest children – daughter Katherine, six, and son Spencer, three – lying at her feet.
“I would have put it off indefinitely. I have seen first-hand the suffering of women who have waited to get pregnant (and then it doesn’t happen).
She said her late mother Swati, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2012, was a huge inspiration to her and explained: ‘For me, my relationship with my mother was an integral part of my life.
“Thinking about our relationship continues to be a huge source of happiness for me every day, so I am so grateful to have Katherine.”
Just like Anne’s secret arrival, Mindy had already surprised her fans with the news of her family’s expansion.
In 2017, she confirmed her pregnancy with Katherine after her Wrinkle In Time co-star Oprah revealed the news several months earlier.
“It’s something very unknown to me,” he explained. Sunday today“I have a lot of control over a lot of aspects of my life, and in this case I’m like, ‘OK, it’s out of my hands,’ which is a fun feeling,” she said.
She also did not announce her second pregnancy and once again shocked the world when she announced that she had given birth to her second baby in 2020.
Since introducing Anne to the world in June, Kaling has taken to Instagram to offer fans glimpses into her new life as a mother of three.
For the recent Fourth of July holiday, Kaling took her kids to the beach to celebrate.
“An Independence Day with sandy salty skin, no makeup, perfect icy waves, lots of sunscreen, frost, outside for hours,” the star wrote, including a photo of little Anne resting on her lap.
