Boiler Room attendees attack protestors in New York as boycotts continue for a second year
On Saturday, three organizations — alongside more than 40 co-signers — came together to throw a counter-rave in Ridgewood.
Photo-Screenshot: Boycott Room/Instagram
Boycotts hijacked Boiler Room’s two-day event in Brooklyn last weekend.
On Friday, July 10th and Saturday, July 11th, Boiler Room came to Greenpoint's open-air venue Under the K Bridge to host the New York stop of its tour. The first day was swarmed with protests. Local activist groups Boycott Room, Cultural Solidarity Project, and DJs Against Apartheid organized a “speak-out” and picket outside the venue with the goal of “educating partygoers who may have never heard of KKR that their tickets are directly funding their dirty work,” Boycott Room wrote in an Instagram caption.
Boycott Room also received videos from a separate anonymous group of activists who staged a “die-in” inside the event later that night. Several individuals wore T-shirts with various slogans, including “KKR COLONIZES / KKR KILLS,” before lying down in the middle of the dance floor. Attendees were recorded hitting and jumping on top of the protesters. According to the video, which was also edited by the group, security took 18 minutes to respond to the assaults.
The next day, another video obtained by Boycott Room shows a protester wearing a shirt reading, “BOILER ROOM IS OWNED BY ISRAELI ARMS INVESTORS,” unplugging the gear to stop the music before being escorted offstage by security.
Another form of protest took place in Ridgewood, where Boycott Room, Cultural Solidarity Project, and HEADS KNOW threw a counter-rave, providing an alternative to Boiler Room’s event. The party featured eight DJs who turned down “thousands of dollars in offers from Boiler Room,” according to a press release from Boycott Room. The main warehouse lineup included Sister Zo, ARCHANGEL, Simisola, beewack, Ella Hussle, bossy boots, and nextdimensional. There was also a second ambient stage with music from supporters including Janus Rose, DJ Yerba Mate, Yaz Lancaster, Solpara, and DJ Haram. DJ Haram has also faced international backlash for her outspoken support of Palestine.
“Boiler Room has never been more chopped,” Boycott Room members wrote in a statement. “Their reputation in the underground dance music communities they claim to represent has utterly disintegrated, leaving behind only the stench of blood. We refuse to sit back and watch both the lineage and the future of dance music be co-opted to generate profits for genocide-funding, planet-destroying corporate owners. No matter what Boiler Room claims are their values, this is the reality of what and who they support. Under its current ownership, the only meaningful thing Boiler Room can do to support a Free Palestine is disband — otherwise, they will meet resistance everywhere they go."
In January 2025, Boiler Room was acquired by Superstruct, a British entertainment conglomerate owned by KKR. KKR invests in Isreali data centers that surveil Palestinians, a gas pipeline that cuts through the ancestral territory of the Wet’suwet’en Nation in Canada, fossil fuels projects contributing to climate emissions destroying the Earth, and more.
Last year, HEADS KNOW and Starry Records organized the Big Apple Solidarity Strike to help fund artists who refused offers or withdrew from Boiler Room.
Learn more about the Boiler Room boycotts on Boycott Room’s blog.
