Britney Spears was never supposed to perform on this year’s VMAs said er manager, Larry Rudolph to media reports.

He says Spears is “in the middle of recording her next album, which is going amazingly well, and her focus remains on the studio.” Spears’ lackluster performance on last year’s VMAs was the talk of the event.

Britney Spears has been appearing in commercials promoting the VMAs, which will be September 7th.

Britney Spears at MTV Studios