Filmmaker Karan Johar has triggered widespread speculation on social media after reportedly unfollowing several prominent Bollywood personalities on Instagram, including Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan. Interestingly, while he has unfollowed many Bollywood celebs, he continues to follow Priyanka Chopra.
The development quickly caught the attention of fans, given Johar's long-standing personal and professional association with Shah Rukh Khan. The two have collaborated on some of Hindi cinema's most memorable films, including Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and My Name Is Khan. Their friendship has often been seen as one of Bollywood's most enduring bonds.
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Johar, however, has addressed the speculation by calling the move a “digital detox”, indicating that there was no deeper controversy behind it. On his Instagram story, Johar posted, "It's a DIGITAL DETOX!!!! Am unfollowing everyone to reduce my time and energy spent on the gram!!! This can't be national news for gods sake ...please clickbait something else! This is irrelevant!"

Karan Johar's Instagram Story
According to reports, Johar's following list no longer features a number of industry names, including Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sidharth Malhotra, Vicky Kaushal, Katrina Kaif, Ananya Panday, Kartik Aaryan and designer Manish Malhotra. However, Priyanka Chopra's name remains on the list, prompting users to question whether the move was selective or part of a broader clean-up of his social media account.
Johar has often been at the centre of industry conversations involving friendships, fallouts and professional equations. For now, the episode remains another example of how celebrity social media activity can spark intense public discussion, even when the individuals involved have not directly commented on the speculation.
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