Police probe Alba link to vandalism

Oklahoma City — Jessica Alba … a vandal?

Photos have surfaced that appear to show her defacing Oklahoma City property with posters of a great white shark, and police are investigating.

Police discovered the posters — aimed at raising awareness about the species’ declining numbers — glued to a downtown bridge and elsewhere, including a billboard displaying a United Way advertisement.

Police Sgt. Gary Knight said Wednesday that investigators have not interviewed Alba, who co-starred in the “Fantastic Four” movies as well as “Sin City” and “Good Luck Chuck.” She’s in Oklahoma filming “The Killer Inside Me,” which co-stars Casey Affleck and Kate Hudson. (A 1976 adaptation of the Jim Thompson novel starred Stacy Keach.)

Telephone messages left with Alba’s lawyer and publicist were not returned Wednesday, but the 28-year-old actress released a statement to apologize.

“I got involved in something I should have had no part of,” Alba said. “I realize that I should have used better judgment, and I regret not thinking things through before I made a spontaneous and ill-advised decision to let myself get involved with the people behind this campaign. I sincerely apologize to the citizens of Oklahoma City and to the United Way for my involvement in this incident.”

Trump ousts Prejean as Miss California

Los Angeles — Miss California USA Carrie Prejean, who stirred up trouble for herself when she said gays shouldn’t be allowed to marry, got two dreaded words from pageant poobah Donald Trump on Wednesday: “You’re fired.”

Trump and other pageant leaders said Prejean was being sacked not because of the remarks but because she hadn’t been holding up her end of the agreement she signed when she entered the pageant.

“Carrie is a beautiful young woman and I wish her well as she pursues her other interests,” Trump said.

Prejean spokeswoman Melany Ethridge declined to comment, saying she hadn’t been able to reach the former beauty queen since the announcement of her ouster.

“This was a decision based solely on contract violations, including Ms. Prejean’s unwillingness to make appearances on behalf of the Miss California USA organization,” the California pageant’s executive director, Keith Lewis, said in a statement.

Brad Pitt buys painting at top modern art fair

Basel, Switzerland — Brad Pitt was the star attraction Wednesday at this year’s edition of the world’s leading contemporary art fair. He was also a customer.

He bought a painting titled “Etappe” by the German artist Neo Rauch, said Art Basel spokeswoman Maike Cruse.

The David Zwirner Gallery in New York had advertised the work as an “enigmatic and dreamlike” representation of a race car being serviced mid-competition. Its list price was about $960,000.

Rauch is among Europe’s top painters, drawing on traditions of Eastern Bloc realism and Western abstraction.

The 40th Art Basel fair opened to the public Wednesday. It features works from more than 2,500 artists.

Queen Latifah says she was sexually abused

New York — Queen Latifah has revealed a traumatic chapter of her personal life: The singer-actress was sexually abused as a child.

In the latest issue of Essence magazine, Latifah says the abuse occurred over a period of time, and at the hands of a teenager charged with watching her.

“He violated me,” says Latifah. “I never told anybody; I just buried it as deeply as I could and kept people at an arm’s distance.”

The 39-year-old entertainer, whose new album “Persona” arrives in July, says the abuse affected her relationships.

She eventually told her parents, and has gone through therapy to come to terms with what happened.

MTV’s ‘Real World’ going to Washington

Los Angeles — MTV is electing Washington as the next location for “The Real World.”

The cable network announced Wednesday that the 23rd season of the reality series would begin production in the nation’s capital later this summer and premiere in 2010. Previous editions have focused on young strangers living together in front of cameras in such cities as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, London, Las Vegas, Paris and Austin, Texas.

The Cancun-set 22nd season of “The Real World” premieres June 24.

Jamie Foxx: ‘I got booed at the Apollo’

New York — Is there anything Jamie Foxx can’t conquer? His first try at the Apollo, apparently.

The singer/actor/comedian says the first time he tried his stand-up act on the famed stage, he was roundly booed.

Foxx gave up the goods on himself as the New York City theater celebrated its 75th anniversary this week. He says it wasn’t about his act — the audience heard “He’s from L.A.” and just started booing.

And he says they were quite animated about it: “They booed me in opera,” he jokes, and then began singing a “boo” riff.

Foxx didn’t get booed offstage at Monday night’s celebration, but says it still remains his favorite memory of the place.