A protest for Palestine hit the wrong target—and now everyone’s got opinions
There’s nothing quite like watching the electronic music scene eat itself alive over politics, private equity, and protest tactics that would make even the most seasoned activist cringe. Last Friday night at Boiler Room’s Lisbon event, someone threw fake blood all over Ukrainian DJ E.LINA mid-set at 8 Marvila, and the internet has been screaming into the void ever since. 1
E.LINA—a Berlin-based artist who grew up in Kharkiv, Ukraine, immersed in hip-hop culture and freestyle dance battles before falling into the techno rabbit hole—kept playing for another hour covered in synthetic blood. The act was meant as a protest for Palestine, organized by a group called BOYCOTT BOILER ROOM LISBON that’s been raging against what they call “ravewashing”.
But here’s where shit gets complicated: The protestors just doused a woman from a country that’s currently being invaded with fake blood, and she was not having it.
“You Can’t Fight One Pain by Disrespecting Another”
“Last night during my set at Boiler Room in Lisbon someone broke in and threw fake blood all over the booth, the decks, the crowd,” E.LINA wrote on Instagram. “It was meant as a protest for Palestine. But for me—an artist from Ukraine, where blood is still being shed… it was deeply shocking”.
She continued: “This act—throwing fake blood as a gesture for Palestine felt extremely disrespectful and out of humanity. You can’t fight one pain by disrespecting another. All eyes may be on Palestine now, but Ukraine is still bleeding too”.
The comment section immediately became a war zone. Critics slammed her for playing Boiler Room at all, given its controversial ownership. “Art cannot be resistance when you’re playing for a promoter that is supporting genocide,” one user wrote. “Though I respect the DJ that you are, this statement is one big contradiction. You should know better, being from Ukraine”.
Another commenter got straight to the point: “Would you play for Boiler Room if it was owned by a Russian company?”
Welcome to Ravewashing, Kids
So what the hell is “ravewashing” anyway? It’s basically the nightlife version of “artwashing”—when corporations use cultural events to make themselves look good despite having sketchy business practices. And Boiler Room, the once-scrappy platform that started with a webcam taped to a wall in a London warehouse, is now the poster child for it. 2
Here’s the money trail: In June 2024, private equity giant KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.) dropped €1.3 billion to buy Superstruct Entertainment, which owns over 85 festivals including Sónar, Field Day, and Lost Village. Then Superstruct turned around and bought Boiler Room in January 2025.
Suddenly, the platform that made its name championing underground artists and being “unapologetically pro-Palestine” was owned by a firm with investments that made activists’ heads explode.
Boiler Room’s KKR Acquisition: Why Artists Are Boycotting the Underground Icon
According to investigative reports, KKR holds stakes in companies linked to Israeli military surveillance technology, weapons manufacturers, real estate platforms advertising properties in occupied West Bank settlements, and defense contractors. The firm has investments in Controp (Israeli defense tech used by the IDF), Novaria Group (aerospace and defense), Circor International (defense supplier), and until April 2025, Axel Springer—which owns Yad2, an Israeli real estate platform that facilitated thousands of property listings in illegal West Bank settlements.
KKR even built a 10.5-megawatt underground data center in Israel through its subsidiary Global Technical Realty.
The Great Boiler Room Boycott of 2025
The backlash has been relentless. Artists have been pulling out of Boiler Room events and Superstruct festivals worldwide since the acquisition became public knowledge.
Chicago house legend DJ Slugo canceled his Detroit appearance, stating: “I refuse to let our culture spaces be used to sanitise the image of global capital and militarism”. DJ Clent, Ikonika, Beatrice M., and Mia Koden all bailed too. In San Francisco, the June event was straight-up canceled after artists withdrew, and counter-events raised over $9,000 for Palestine solidarity.
The São Paulo event in August? Cancelled after five DJs dropped out. Over 70 artists pulled out of Sónar 2025. A collective called SISU yanked an entire stage with 30+ artists from Field Day Festival in London and organized a competing event.
In New York, activists formed “Boycott Room” and held picket lines outside events. One protestor interrupted a live set wearing a shirt reading “this party kills” while holding a flag that said “Boiler Room and KKR fund genocide. Boycott now!”
Corporate Damage Control That Satisfied No One
In March 2025, Boiler Room released a carefully worded statement that basically said “we know, we’re sorry, but we’re powerless.” They admitted KKR “has investments that categorically do not align with our values” but claimed they had “no say in our ownership” and were “unable to divest”.
They tried to reassure fans by declaring: “We will always remain unapologetically pro-Palestine”.
The response? Mixed at best. Many critics called it “vapid” and “corporate deception”. In a brutal power move, The Sameer Project—a Palestinian aid charity—publicly rejected funds raised by Boiler Room, saying they couldn’t compromise their values.
The Irony Problem
Which brings us back to Lisbon and the absolute absurdity of throwing fake blood on a Ukrainian artist. E.LINA, who started her career in Kharkiv before the city became a bombing target, who fell in love with electronic music at Closer in Kyiv, who’s part of a cultural resistance against Russian attempts to erase Ukrainian identity—got hit with a protest meant for someone else entirely.
The protestors were aiming at KKR, at corporate greed, at complicity in Palestinian suffering. But they hit an artist from another country experiencing its own devastating invasion, humanitarian crisis, and cultural erasure. 3
“I didn’t play to support any institution,” E.LINA wrote. “I played to bring my truth—to represent my country, my story, my sound. I play for connection and for healing”.
So Who’s Right Here?
That’s the million-dollar question, and the answer is as messy as the booth covered in fake blood.
Are the activists right that artists should refuse to play for platforms owned by companies with investments in weapons manufacturers and occupied territories? Absolutely. Is the boycott movement valid and important? Yes. 4
Should protestors have targeted a Ukrainian artist in a way that symbolically echoes the very violence her country is experiencing? Probably not. Did E.LINA know about KKR’s investments before accepting the booking? That’s unclear, but many artists say they weren’t aware of the ownership structure until activists approached them.
The real issue is that late-stage capitalism has made ethical consumption—and ethical performance—damn near impossible. KKR’s tentacles reach into 261 subsidiaries worldwide. Private equity firms own everything from your favorite festivals to your grocery stores to the companies making defense tech. 5
As one Reddit user put it: “Boiler Room is likely to continue facing scrutiny due to its ties with Superstruct’s parent company, KKR, and boycotts and controversies appear to be intensifying rather than slowing down”. 6
Sónar’s Founders Just Walked Away: How a 30-Year Barcelona Legacy Got Caught in the KKR Controversy
The Bigger Picture
This isn’t just about one protest or one DJ. It’s about the ongoing battle for the soul of underground culture in an era when everything gets swallowed by corporate giants. It’s about activists trying to hold platforms accountable while also grappling with the complexity of individual artists’ situations.
It’s about the fact that two ongoing humanitarian crises—Palestine and Ukraine—are both demanding our attention, and sometimes people in pain end up fighting each other instead of the systems causing that pain.
“Free Palestine. Free Ukraine. Respect all pain,” E.LINA concluded in her statement. “No message deserves to be written in someone else’s blood—real or fake”.
And honestly? In a scene that’s supposed to be about unity, liberation, and dancing our way to a better world, maybe that’s the realest thing anyone’s said about this whole mess.
- https://fourfourmag.com/ukrainian-dj-hit-with-fake-blood-at-boiler-room-protest-over-palestine/ ↩︎
- https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2018/04/27/artwashing-and-gentrification/ ↩︎
- https://consequenceforum.org/good-evening-we-are-from-ukraine-voices-of-cultural-resistance/ ↩︎
- https://unicornriot.ninja/2025/pro-palestine-festival-artists-boycott-israel-linked-company/ ↩︎
- https://wearesolomon.com/mag/format/feature/kkr-from-greeces-red-loans-to-the-occupied-territories-of-palestine/ ↩︎
- https://www.reddit.com/r/EDM/comments/1mf4ue2/boiler_room_boycott/ ↩︎
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