A childhood friend sold his business a year ago and bought a big yacht on the sound near where we both grew up. I also have a modest home nearby but nothing like his. For his birthday bash he pulled out all the stops, actually hiring some 90s rock celebs to be on his boat. I’m just kinda tired of the guy so I made up a white lie about being out of town. I wanted to spend the weekend relaxing with family and decompressing from a long hard work week. Anyway, his boat came by my place. He texted me a telephoto pic of me on my deck drinking a glass of wine. He called me an asshole for lying to him, and missing this “important” celebration. I’m just tired of him flaunting his wealth. Doesn’t seem like the guy I once knew, but I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. AITH?
Edits: fixed typos
You can attend or not attend someone’s birthday party or other event for any reason. You don’t owe them your presence if you don’t want to be there.
However, it’s a totally valid question to ask “why are you guys friends?” Doesn’t sound like OP likes this guy much, and I kinda think the answer is that they USED to be friends in a more meaningful way, and OP didn’t want to ruffle feathers by saying anything when his feelings about the friendship changed.