{"id":530925,"date":"2026-07-03T10:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/530925\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:24:16","slug":"mindy-kaling-told-tina-fey-amy-poehler-she-wanted-to-lose-30-pounds-and-their-reply-shocked-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/530925\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindy Kaling Told Tina Fey, Amy Poehler She Wanted To ‘Lose 30 Pounds’ \u2014 And Their Reply Shocked Her"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Mindy Kaling<\/a>\u2019s first interactions with two of her comedic heroes has stuck with her for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Office\u201d alum joined Amy Poehler<\/a> on her podcast \u201cGood Hang<\/a>\u201d on Tuesday, and about 45 minutes into the episode, Kaling recalled the first time she met Poehler and her frequent collaborator and friend, Tina Fey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"MindyMindy Kaling arrives at a gala in May.<\/p>\n

Kaling said she was guest writing on an episode of \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d in 2005 (when Fey and Poehler were still in the cast), and the three shared an exchange that had quite the impact on \u201cThe Mindy Project\u201d star.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember this story, and I\u2019m not proud of it,\u201d Kaling said, stressing how much she admired the two women at the time. \u201cWe were somewhere, and I was like, \u2018I just want to lose 30 pounds,\u2019 and the two of you stopped and were like, \u2018What? That\u2019s too much weight.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaling continued, \u201cI remember I was so happy for like three weeks after. I was like, \u2018Wow, Amy and Tina don\u2019t think I\u2019m a fat load.\u2019 I was so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TinaTina Fey (left) and Amy Poehler arrive at the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no Mindy, never,\u201d Poehler sweetly said in response to Kaling\u2019s \u201cfat load\u201d jab at herself.<\/p>\n

The \u201cNever Have I Ever\u201d creator went on to emphasize how this response from Fey and Poehler felt shockingly refreshing at a time when it was socially acceptable to openly criticize a woman\u2019s appearance and link it to her worth.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in the aughts, you guys were like, \u2018What? Are you crazy?\u2019\u201d Kaling recalled. \u201cAnd I always think, \u2018Why would I have told that to them?\u2019 That\u2019s so weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poehler responded by assuring Kaling that it wasn\u2019t that weird at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I would say that \u2014 if we were to get real \u2014 that\u2019s how women talk to each other,\u201d Poehler said.<\/p>\n

\"KalingKaling and Poehler in the audience at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like everybody else, we\u2019re constantly trying to figure out everybody\u2019s relationship to being on camera,\u201d Poehler continued. \u201cAnd I do think that, for better or for worse, what women do for each other and to each other is they talk about their bodies to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cParks and Recreation\u201d star added later in the episode that she makes it a point not to \u201ctalk about people\u2019s bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s like, people\u2019s bodies are their own business,\u201d Poehler said.<\/p>\n

Kaling ultimately said the reason why she thinks it had such an impact on her was that not only did she respect Poehler and Fey, but they so openly validated an issue that plagues many people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think to be able to be with two of my heroes and have them acknowledge \u2014 because you could have easily been like, \u2018We don\u2019t ever think about it. We\u2019re naturally thin,\u2019\u201d Kaling said. \u201cI think really, it was a kindness for you to acknowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three successful female comedians do appear to have mutual respect for one another. In 2015, Fey interviewed Kaling at New York\u2019s 92Y<\/a> to promote Kaling\u2019s memoir, \u201cWhy Not Me?\u201d That same year, Kaling traveled with Poehler to the Cannes Film Festival to promote their Pixar film, \u201cInside Out.\u201d <\/p>\n

Poehler and Kaling actually discussed this trip earlier in the podcast episode<\/a>, and during the conversation the two touched on why so many women \u2014 especially in the entertainment industry \u2014 may have insecurities regarding their appearance.<\/p>\n

\"PhyllisPhyllis Smith, Poehler and Kaling pose for photographers at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015.<\/p>\n

Although both women said the experience was \u201cglamorous,\u201d they also agreed that French journalists were much more blunt about criticizing their bodies. <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Why are you \u2014 why are you so fat?\u2019\u201d Kaling, using a French accent, recalled being asked.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018You, you are smiling, but your face is not so nice to look at,\u2019\u201d Poehler piggybacked, also using a French accent and poking fun at the \u201cruder\u201d questions French journalists asked them at the time. \u201c\u2018If your face is not so nice, why do you think people like to look at it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of Mindy Kaling\u2019s first interactions with two of her comedic heroes has stuck with her for decades.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49611,93,61,60,66989,49652,282,4599],"class_list":["post-530925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-amy-poehler","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mindy-kaling","tag-tina-fey","tag-tv","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}