Kanye West was especially critical of this setup, claiming that he would "never return to MTV" after he was slotted to perform in the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa instead of the main stage.

Amy Winehouse's record label canceled her performance for the show following Lily Allen's withdrawal from the event due to issues obtaining a visa.

[4] The French electronic group Justice was going to perform at the show with Mark Ronson during one of his VMA spots with an additional special guest.

The prize for winning was getting flown to New York City to film 5 live videos in front of a green screen.

Jeff Leeds of The New York Times said that "no one was prepared for Sunday night's fiasco, in which a listless Ms. Spears teetered through her dance steps and mouthed only occasional words in a wan attempt to lip-synch her new single".

She was wearing the expression of somebody who had been deposited at the Palms Casino Resort by a tornado, one that promptly twisted away, taking her clothing and sense of purpose.

[8] David Willis of BBC stated her performance would "go down in the history books as being one of the worst to grace the MTV Awards".

Silverman joked that Spears, "at 25, had already accomplished in her life everything she ever will," and called her sons "most adorable mistakes you will ever see."

[11] The day after the performance, American vlogger Cara Cunningham, using the name Chris Crocker, posted a video to YouTube titled "Leave Britney alone!

[15] Kid Rock and Tommy Lee were involved in an altercation at the Video Music Awards during the come-back performance of Alicia Keys.

"[17] The incident was confirmed by Palms Hotel and Casino public relations representative Larry Fink.

On-air reactions Caitlin Upton, Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2007 – famous for her incoherent response to why she thought 1/5 of Americans can't locate the US on a world map, performed a parody of her response when she was presenting.