Blind Pig in Ann Arbor accused of racism after canceling Sada Baby's show

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Blind Pig is an iconic setting and a home base for a lot of new acts before they went big. 

But the Ann Arbor music venue is being accused of racism by one promoter and hip hop artist after they canceled one show - then rescheduled another. 

"He is a big reason why the music industry is looking at Detroit now," said Polo Frost, talking about the rapper and singer Sada Baby. The Detroit-based star has reached the upper echelon of music that few have touched after being featured in a song with Nicki Minaj.

Video from a concert at Little Caesars Arena earlier this year shows the two performing for a raucous and excited crowd. 

Polo Frost had his first show at the Blind Pig in 2014 - so it made for a logical choice for his business partner to return for the company's first concert booking. But as it turns out, even his stardom wasn't enough to score a show at the venue. 

This week, Polo Frost was finalizing the details for the performance when the folks at the Blind Pig told him there had been a change of plans. 

"They text and said 'hey we're having staffing issues, we can't staff that show so we have to pull out'," he told FOX 2.

Iin Sada Baby's place, on the same day he was supposed to perform on July 5th, another band got booked. Polo Frost said there was one major difference between the two acts: race. Sada Baby is Black. The act that replaced him is not.

"I think it's a race thing because if it wasn't, why were you able to book a band that day even if you were expecting somewhat of a smaller crowd? I mean, we could've accommodated anything," he said.

He argued it was pretty obvious that it was a race issue, a belief that was further solidified in his mind after he offered to bring additional security. But no dice. The dispute was made all the harder because the money that Polo Frost had spent booking the Blind Pig would not be refunded.

"They are just stereotyping from the jump," he said. "Sada Baby's deposit, the venue's deposit, flyers, posters, backdrop, all the advertising - I put a nice chunky amount of money on this."

He added "I definitely could've bought a new car." 

Instead, he's out thousands of dollars and left with just as many questions.

FOX 2 reached out to the Blind Pig for comment prior to airing the story, but never received one. Days later, they posted a response on their Facebook page addressing the show's cancelation. 

In it, they said the artist was too big for their venue.

"We know Sada Baby’s popularity is capable of drawing an audience that we cannot adequately host in a safe and secure manner. While it was suggested we bring in outside security to support our staff we have a standing policy of not booking shows where that is required. Fortunately, we were able to make this decision before any money was transacted between us and the artist and prior to tickets going on sale to the public. We have never held any deposit or other money from the promoter or artist."