Among all the glitzy, glamorous red carpet attendees at the 2018 Oscars Sunday were two former stars of The Office [1], whose relationship has been the subject of real-life shipping for years. No, not John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer (they're totally just friends); it was B.J. Novak and Mindy Kaling looking super cute. But were they just there together or are they together-together?
The answer is it's complicated.
The two have been friends for a long time, meeting on the set of The Office when it began in 2005. They dated on and off over the years, just like their on-screen counterparts, Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapoor, did as well. When they did break up for good, they managed to remain good friends; Novak was a producer for season one of Kaling's comedy The Mindy Project [3], and the two are regularly lighting up each other's social media with adorable posts of their friendship (or whatever it is they're doing).
Happy Best Friend Day [4]
Their relationship inspires a lot of fan speculation on social media as well. People really, really want to see them get back together in real life.
If I spent as much time doing school work as I do investigating Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak's relationship I would have graduated already.
ps: he's @ the wrinkle in time premiere tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/61PBaTc5zr [6]— Anne Hollis (@annehollis) February 27, 2018 [7]
And it might happen — who knows? Kaling told InStyle in June 2015 that her relationship with Novak is "weird as hell." [8]
"I will freely admit: my relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell. He is not my boyfriend, but he is not my best friend," she said. "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."
Whatever it is, it's cute as hell.
Putting the vanity back in #VanityFair [10]