Britney Spears will appear in a television promo for this year's VMAs. She shot the spot on Tuesday at the Paramount lot in Hollywood with first-time host, British bad-boy comedian and Forgetting Sarah Marshall star Russell Brand.

"It was mostly ad-libbed, with Russell asking her for advice about hosting the show," a source tells me. "There's also a 9,000-pound elephant in it, as in 'the elephant in the room.' "

The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from Paramount Pictures Studios in Los Angeles on September 7, 2008.

Photo Credit: MTV