On the Organic Boycott of Boiler Room and KKR
Correction
In an earlier version of this statement, which was sent via email to a number of our PACBI endorsers, we erroneously included Field Maneuvers in a list of festivals owned by KKR/Superstruct. This was wrong: KKR and Superstruct own a festival called Field Day.
Field Maneuvers is an independently run and owned festival and has demonstrated its solidarity with Palestinian liberation through fundraising for Medical Aid for Palestinians. One festival-goer commented on Field Maneuver’s correction post, “Turning up at FM last year, feeling unsure about partying at a time like this, and seeing all the Palestine flags waving on site in the Sun was so special.”
We sincerely apologize to Field Maneuvers. The corrected statement appears below.
For many months, organizers in the nightlife working group of WAWOG’s Cultural Boycott Committee have worked to support the ongoing organic boycott of Boiler Room and its parent companies Superstruct and KKR that began earlier this year. Kicked off by Indigenous land defenders in Tkaronto (Toronto) in January 2025, this important grassroots effort has united culture workers across continents and struggles, giving rise to important worker actions. Some examples:
Protest of a Boiler Room event in Tkaronto (Toronto)
DAYTIMERS statement on KKR and Superstruct
Istanbul DJs pulling out of Boiler Room
Amor Digital statement refusing collaboration with Boiler Room and other KKR-owned structures
In response to the momentum that the boycott was gaining, Boiler Room released a statement on Instagram at the end of March attempting to distance themselves from complicity in KKR's investments. Given the statement's swift rejection by the nightlife community, many of us were surprised to see it welcomed by the PACBI organization.
We’re writing to clarify that we support and encourage the grassroots boycott of Boiler Room and Superstruct festivals. Here’s why:
KKR
KKR is not only invested in the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the people of Palestine through their directly funding of the IOF via ‘Friends of the IDF.’ They are also heavily invested in the Coastal GasLink Pipeline, a project that seeks to dispossess and pollute Indigenous lands in the west of Turtle Island (Canada). With its investments, KKR harms many groups of people all over the world, to whom we owe our solidarity including Wet’suwet’en. In this recent post on Yintah Access, Wet’suwet’en land defenders wrote,
“We continue to stand firm in our knowing and ways of our ancestors who have protected these lands since time immemorial. We have done this work with our ancestors, Diní ze’ and Tsakë ze’, allies, comrades and supporters.”
Boiler Room
As many nightlife organizers are aware, Boiler Room has been corrupt for a long time (see post from LCCW Alliance for some examples). Since the acquisition by KKR, anything Boiler Room does functions to artwash the violence of their parent company, whether they intend it to or not. As Amor Digital stated, while Boiler Room's complicity may be involuntary, everyone who works with them has a choice, which is why it is important to refuse and/or withdraw. Palestinian-led organization The Sameer Project rejected Boiler Room's donations at the end of March, writing:
“We will always say no to any kind of normalization or ties with organizations linked to zionism in any shape or form. No zionist money comes without an agenda. [...] Tomorrow KKR will turn around and be on the defensive about investing in Israel by saying they donated to Gaza through one of their acquired companies. They will say this to wash away their complicity.”
Our Position and Recommendations
We fully support the boycott of Boiler Room, Superstruct and KKR-owned festivals including Sonar, Flow Festival, Field Day, Lost Village, Awakenings and DGTL.
We have been advocating for cultural organizations to endorse PACBI's guidelines and we will continue to. The guidelines for boycotting the zionist entity represent a logical and longstanding basis for solidarity with Palestinians, which is why hundreds if not thousands of individuals and organizations worldwide have chosen to adhere to them.
There are different types of boycotts. Some push institutions to change, divest, etc. We don't expect KKR to endorse PACBI. Instead, by boycotting KKR and its subsidiaries, we aim to take back alternative culture and refuse its cooptation, rejecting the trend of private equity firms buying out festivals and nightlife institutions. The fact that KKR is such an extremely harmful entity makes it a perfect boycott target.
A wonderful example of nightlife organizers taking back alternative culture is the recently announced collaboration between Bay Area collectives, the Bay Area Solidarity Strike (B.A.S.S.). We encourage others to take inspiration from B.A.S.S. and organize similar events and strike funds in their own scenes.
