Stop the bad press!

London — Soccer star David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, are considering taking legal action over a newspaper story about their marriage, a spokesman for the couple said Sunday.

The Beckhams filed late Saturday for a court order to bar the News of the World from publishing allegations by the couple’s former nanny, Abbie Gibson.

Their lawyers had argued that Gibson’s contract included a promise not to speak about the couple’s private lives. But the News of the World said a judge ruled in its favor on grounds that the story was in the public interest.

After the newspaper appeared Sunday morning, the Beckhams were “consulting our lawyers with a view to taking legal action,” their spokesman said.Gibson told the News of the World she witnessed a series of rows between David Beckham and his wife. Gibson, who worked for the couple from August 2003 until she quit earlier this month, also claimed Victoria told her that her husband wanted to split up.

No surprise here

Los Angeles — The ex-girlfriend of Britney Spears’ husband says she isn’t surprised to hear the singer is pregnant.

“Hey, it was bound to happen,” actress Shar Jackson told MTV News last week in her first interview since Spears and Kevin Federline announced the pregnancy April 12. “It was a goal, and it was conquered, moving on.”

Jackson, who appeared in the sitcom “Moesha” and 2000 film “Love & Basketball,” has two young children with Federline and said “he loves his kids to death.”

Jackson said she was willing to let her kids have a relationship with Spears’ child. “I mean, they’re family, so if the other side of the family permits, then yeah,” she said.

Las Vegas decries greed

Las Vegas — City officials are complaining that tickets given away for a concert featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer are being sold on the Internet.

“You get a couple of bums who take advantage of the situation, and what starts off as a very nice gesture … turns into a sleazy methodology of trying to make a buck from it,” Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said.

The July 2 show is a celebration marking the city’s 100th anniversary.

About 35,000 free tickets were quickly snapped up when they became available online last week. Minutes later, traders began offering tickets on eBay at prices that ranged from $25 to $70 per ticket.

Clark County and the city of Las Vegas forbid ticket scalping. Goodman said resellers may be prosecuted.

Man of letters now on stamp

Guthrie, Ky. — Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Penn Warren now graces a U.S. postage stamp.

Hundreds of people gathered in Warren’s hometown in southwest Kentucky last week to witness the unveiling of the stamp, the 21st in the U.S. Postal Service’s Literary Arts series.

“I can think of no better way to return the favor than by dedicating this stamp to a letter-writing man,” said Ann C. Wright, district manger for the Kentuckiana District of the Postal Service.

Best known for his 1946 novel “All the King’s Men,” Warren wrote 16 volumes of poetry, 10 novels, a collection of short stories and college textbooks on poetry and fiction.

Birthdays

Actress Renee Zellweger is 36. Actor Al Pacino is 65. Singer Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) is 60. Actress Talia Shire is 59. Actor Hank Azaria is 41. TV personality Jane Clayson is 38.