Karan Johar came under severe criticism from netizens for attending the birthday celebration of Neetu Kapoor. It was because the Bollywood filmmaker was spotted at the event a day after reports emerged that he was hurt with the hatred against him over nepotism debate.

Karan Johar at Neetu Kapoor's Birthday
Netizens verbally attacked Karan Johar for attending Neetu Kapoor's birthday.Instagram

Now, an unnamed friend of Karan Johar has told a website that Karan Johar attended the event because of Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. "Both are very precious to Karan. And they insisted that he join them for the party. Otherwise, he was most reluctant to be seen partying in public. Besides, it wasn't really meant to be a party. Ranbir's mother is grieving over her husband's death. She didn't want a party, but her children insisted. And they dragged Karan into the small get-together," says a friend of Johar.

The report further claims that Karan Johar has not stepped out of his house since Sushant Singh Rajput's death. As he could not say "no" to Alia Bhatt, he attended the party.

Neetu Kapoor had shared the pictures on her Instagram account and wrote, "The richest are the ones with good relationships!!! We all need love ,support strength from our loved ones always I feel the richest today. [sic]"

Karan Johar, Sushant Singh Rajput
Karan Johar, Sushant Singh RajputInstagram

Ranbir Kapoor, daughter Riddhima Kapoor, grandaughter Samara, sister-in-law Reema Jain, and Agastya Nanda were part of the celebration. This was the first birthday following her husband actor Rishi Kapoor's death in April.

Coming back to Karan Johar, the actor has been targeted by a section of netizens following the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. His demise has triggered the nepotism debate in the Hindi film industry and he is accused of being a flag-bearer of nepotism.