For a few hours on Thursday, filmmaker Karan Johar’s Instagram account became the centre of Bollywood gossip after fans noticed he had quietly unfollowed several big celebrities, including Shah Rukh Khan, Kartik Aaryan, Ananya Panday and even his longtime friend Manish Malhotra.

Soon, social media was full of theories. Some users linked it to recent box office disappointments, while others wondered if there was tension inside Bollywood’s inner circle.

However, after much of talks the 53-year-old finally stepped in to clarify the situation.

“It's a DIGITAL DETOX!!!! Am unfollowing everyone to reduce my time and energy spent on the gram!!!” he wrote on Instagram Stories.

He also appeared irritated with the attention around the matter.

“This can't be national news for gods sake ...please clickbait something else! This is irrelevant,” he added.

Interestingly, Priyanka Chopra still remains on Karan’s following list, while close industry names like Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Kareena Kapoor and Malaika Arora are no longer there. At present, the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai director follows only 78 people on Instagram.

The timing of the social media clean-up has also caught attention because he has had a busy and mixed year professionally. 

Earlier this year, he made headlines at the Met Gala 2026 in a dramatic Manish Malhotra outfit inspired by Raja Ravi Varma paintings.

His recent production Chand Mera Dil, however, opened to mixed reviews and earned around ₹2.90 crore net on day one, according to Sacnilk.

On the other hand, Karan’s Dharma Productions is now preparing for upcoming releases including Udta Teer and Naagzilla.