Playboy apologizes to Jessica Alba

LOS ANGELES - Film star Jessica Alba forgave Playboy magazine on Tuesday for making her an unwitting cover girl after founder Hugh Hefner sent the actress a personal apology and pledged to donate money to her favorite charities.

Alba had threatened to sue Playboy after the men's magazine printed a photo of the bikini-clad actress from her 2005 movie "Into the Blue" on the cover of its March issue -- which she said duped readers into thinking she was nude inside.

"In light of Mr. Hefner's personal apology for Playboy's unauthorized use of my photo on their cover, I have decided to discontinue my claims against them," Alba, 24, said in a written statement.

"This was never about money, it was about setting the record straight about something that was done without my knowledge or consent," she added.

Alba's lawyers, who claimed that Playboy tricked Sony Pictures Entertainment into supplying the photo after the "Fantastic Four" star refused to pose for the cover, had also asked that the magazine pull the March issue from newsstands.

A spokeswoman for Playboy was not immediately available for comment. The magazine initially had claimed to have "done nothing wrong" in giving cover treatment to Alba, who was chosen "sexiest star of the year" by Playboy readers in an online poll.

In his letter to Alba, Hefner apologized for "any distress unintentionally caused by the publication of your photo" on the March cover.

"What was intended as a tribute to your tremendous popularity has been misinterpreted by some as something else for which we are truly sorry since we are among your biggest fans," Hefner said.

A representative for Alba, who also starred in films "Sin City" and "Honey" and the TV series "Dark Angel," said the actress did not file a lawsuit against Playboy but that her lawyers had been speaking to attorneys for the magazine.

He said that Playboy, a unit of Playboy Enterprises Inc , had agreed to make donations, in a sum he would not disclose, to two charities supported by the actress.