‘It’s a digital detox, can’t be national news’

Filmmaker Karan Johar on unfollowing SRK, Alia and others on Instagram

Filmmaker Karan Johar has dismissed speculation over his mass unfollow spree on Instagram, calling it a “digital detox” and urging people not to turn it into “national news”. The filmmaker recently unfollowed most of his inner circle on the platform, including Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ananya Panday, Malaika Arora, Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra, and designer Manish Malhotra.

The move sparked a wave of speculation online, with fans quick to note that Johar still appeared to be following actor Priyanka Chopra on Instagram. On Thursday night, Johar addressed the speculation in a brief note on his Instagram Story. “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 god’s sake... please clickbait something else! This is irrelevant,” he wrote.