Mindy Kaling Recalls Reese Witherspoon Setting Her Up on a Date

Reese Witherspoon tried to help Mindy Kaling find love — but she’s not in the market for a significant other.

“I don’t go on the apps. One time, once very pretty recently, Reese Witherspoon wanted to set me up with somebody and I didn’t even look to see who it was,” Kaling, 46, shared during an interview with Bustle, published on Tuesday, October 21. “I didn’t laugh in her face because I love her and I love that she was thinking of me in that way, but I just thought it’s not time.”

Her laughter was more at the idea of “doing my hair and putting on makeup and getting out there,” above anything else.

“I have three kids under the age of 7, so for me to want to leave them, especially when I travel for work a lot,” Kaling continued. “I’m very happy. I work with so many men and I love romance, but it’s interesting how all those things can be true and you can decide that you’re like, ‘I’m fine.’”

Kaling does see the irony, however.

“I know on a certain level, as a writer who writes stories for women, that finding someone who is good and has a good heart and is earnest is what one should yearn for, and you should outgrow these immature tendencies to find someone funny and mean,” she added. “I’ve literally written this story for young women and I haven’t learned that lesson myself.”

Kaling is a mom to three kids: Katherine, 7, Spencer, 5, and Anne, 20 months. She hasn’t publicly shared any details about their father — although fans have speculated that it’s her longtime friend and ex B.J. Novak.

“It doesn’t bother me,” she told Marie Claire in August 2022 about the rumors. “He’s the godparent to both my kids — and they have such a great relationship.”

She explained that the speculation didn’t impact her happiness.

“It hasn’t affected my kids or B.J.,” Kaling added. “If that’s what is going to be titillating to people, I’ll take it.”

Kaling explained that she’s waiting until her kids are “old enough to talk about it” before discussing her fertility journey publicly.

“I’m the only parent my kids have,” she shared. “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.”

Kaling and Novak, 46, dated for three years before calling it quits in 2007. She’s previously explained that he’s become more like “family than a platonic friend” over the years.

“He’s great with kids,” she told Good Morning America in 2020. “And so it’s been really nice to have his energy in the house.”

Kaling knows, however, that this is not the norm.

“I will freely admit: My relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell,” Kaling said in 2015. “He is not my boyfriend, but he is not my best friend. I guess you could describe our relationship as a ‘romantically charged camaraderie with loud arguments,’ but I don’t think Facebook would accept this as a new status.”