Both Britney Spears’ people and MTV’s publicity department want you to know that, despite her appearance in ads for the awards show and the promise of a “surprise” that night, the maybe-rising-again pop star will not be performing on the Sept. 7 telecast, at least according to a statement her manager Larry Rudolph gave to Ryan Seacrest yesterday. Whether or not this is all part of a dis-dis-disinformation campaign crafted for the purpose of item-hungry entertainment reporters to have something to chew on in this cursed final week of August or the truth is anyone’s guess at this point–maybe we’re all supposed to analyze, Nixon tapes-style, the fact that Rudolph used the word “perform” instead of “appear” in his statement to Seacrest? [Reuters]