The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2006 to June 2007, took place on September 9, in Las Vegas at The Palms. The 2007 VMAs were the smallest VMAs ever held in MTV history, eliminating 13 awards, and renaming many of the remaining awards. The 2008 awards restored most of the categories.

The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 7, 2008, live from Paramount Pictures Studios (which, like MTV, is owned by Viacom), honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Nominations for a majority of the categories were announced on the MTV program FNMTV after being selected through viewer online voting at MTV.com. The remaining, professional categories were chosen by a panel of music industry professionals and announced via press release on August 27.

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2008 to June 2009, were presented on September 13, 2009, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and televised by MTV. The ceremony was hosted by Russell Brand.

The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 12, 2010 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Chelsea Handler hosted the event, the first woman in sixteen years – since the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards – to do so.