A man thought comedian and writer Mindy Kaling was Malala Yousafzai, the youngest person to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
Mindy Kaling, whilst at a New York event in her honour, was wrongly identified by a man who thought she was Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. The 35-year-old described the incident in which she was mistaken for the 17-year-old activist.
As the NY Times reports, Kaling presented a talk at an event in Manhattan before heading over to top to a bar when she was spotted by a ‘tipsy man in his 80s’ who believed she was Yousafzai. Kaling had even given a talk at the event but evidently some confusion remained.
Kaling described how the man stopped her and complimented her, praising her work and awards. The man said “Congratulations on your Nobel Prize,” and expressed his amazement at how well she had recovered from the gunshots she had suffered from the Taliban attack.
Yousafzai, who was and remains an outspoken supporter of women’s right to education, was attacked in October 2012 by Taliban gunmen when she was travelling home on a bus from school. Against the odds, Yousafzai survived the assassination attempt. The Pakistani activist is currently being educated in the UK and has continued to be widely courted by the international community, receiving a Nobel Peace Prize on 10th October 2014.
Kaling did not know how to respond to the man’s ridiculous assumption but she soon, once he had moved on, felt incredulity. She said “Did he really think I’m Malala?”
Finally the Mindy Project actress realised the situation was actually amusing, stating “That’s the best thing that’s happened all night.”