Chelsea Handler will host the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Handler announced on Wednesday.
The 27th annual show will be broadcast live on MTV on September 12 from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Kanye West, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz and Ne-Yo are among the acts scheduled to perform.
“Everyone knows that when you think of rap music and hip-hop, you think of 'Chelsea Lately,'" Handler said on her E! show on Wednesday. "And that's why I will be hosting."
MTV acknowledged it was an “unexpected choice.”
She is the first female VMA host since Sarah Silverman hosted the show in 2007.
Handler said she also plans to host a week of VMA-themed “Chelsea Lately” shows leading up to the Sunday broadcast.
West is returning after causing an international incident at the 2009 VMAs by stepping in front of Taylor Swift as she was accepting the “Best Female Video” award.
Obama called Kanye a "jackass," and West later apologized on Jay Leno's show.
Meanwhile, MTV's "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to disorderly conduct charges stemming from her beachside arrest last month in Seaside Heights.
A trial for Snooki was set for September 8.
