Jessica Alba won’t face vandalism charges

Oklahoma City — Police have decided against pursuing a criminal vandalism case against Jessica Alba over some posters that were plastered around downtown Oklahoma City.

Police Sgt. Gary Knight said none of the owners of property on which the posters were placed wanted to press charges against Alba, who has apologized.

Police never interviewed the 28-year-old co-star of the “Fantastic Four” movies, “Sin City” and “Good Luck Chuck.” She is in Oklahoma City shooting a movie, “The Killer Inside Me.”

Police found the posters — aimed at raising awareness about sharks’ declining numbers — glued to a downtown bridge, utility boxes and a billboard for the United Way charity.

Knight said it is typical not to pursue vandalism charges when property owners don’t want to prosecute.

Letterman apologizes for ‘bad’ Palin joke

New York — David Letterman said his joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter was a lousy joke, no matter how you cut it, and he’s sorry.

But the late-night host insisted that what’s got people really riled is the misconception over which Palin daughter the joke was about.

On Monday’s edition of “Late Show,” Letterman explained that the risque joke thought by some to have targeted Palin’s underage daughter, Willow, was actually referring to 18-year-old daughter Bristol. The name of the daughter wasn’t mentioned in the joke, which was part of Letterman’s monologue on last Monday’s show.

It was “a coarse joke,” “a bad joke,” Letterman told viewers. “But I never thought it was (about) anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure, in fact, that she is of legal age, 18.”

“The joke, really, in and of itself, can’t be defended,” he declared.

Even so, the ongoing outcry, led by Palin and her husband, Todd, has centered on Letterman intending to make a joke about the Palins’ 14-year-old daughter having sex with a Yankees baseball player.

Todd Palin issued a statement last week that said “any ‘jokes’ about raping my 14-year-old are despicable.”

And Sarah Palin charged Letterman with “sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity.”

Brad Pitt, family give $1M to Mo. hospital

Springfield, Mo. — Brad Pitt and his siblings have given

$1 million to help a Missouri hospital open a new pediatric cancer center that will be named for their mother.

Pitt and his siblings’ families, Doug and Lisa Pitt and Rob and Julie Neal, gave the money to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Mo., on Saturday in honor of their mother’s passion for children’s issues.

The hospital is opening the Jane Pitt Pediatric Cancer Center this summer in the town where Pitt and his siblings grew up. The donation will pay to hire the only pediatric oncologist and hematologist in the southwest Missouri region.

The new center will make St. John’s one of six affiliates of St. Jude’s Children’s Research in Memphis, Tenn., meaning the center will be able to participate St. Jude’s clinic research trials.

Beyonce to perform at BET Awards

Los Angeles — Beyonce will perform at the BET Awards.

Show organizers say the pop star will attend the ceremony, as will her husband, Jay-Z.

The two join a performance lineup that includes Kanye West, Maxwell, Young Jeezy, Ne-Yo and Soulja Boy.

Beyonce is nominated for a leading five BET Awards, including favorite R&B female and video of the year. Rapper T.I. also has five nods, followed by Lil Wayne, T-Pain and Keri Hilson, who are tied with four nominations each.

Jamie Foxx will host the show, to be broadcast live June 28 from the Shrine Auditorium.

Princess Caroline’s husband on trial

Hildesheim, Germany — Prince Ernst August of Hannover, husband of Caroline of Monaco, acknowledged in court Monday that he hit a hotel owner in Kenya but denied using anything but his hands.

The 55-year-old — a distant relative of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and great-grandson of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II — was being retried after being convicted in 2004 of causing serious bodily harm and fined $633,560.

Though he does not deny the assault, in the retrial Ernst August is seeking to have the charge and sentence reduced.

In the first trial, the court ruled he repeatedly hit Josef Brunlehner, owner of a hotel on Lamu Island, with a metal object in January 2000 after becoming irritated at the noise from a disco.

During the first trial, Brunlehner testified Ernst August punched him with a metal ring in the chest and abdomen, causing multiple bruises, and shouted abuse at him. The injuries required emergency-room treatment, Brunlehner testified.

In a written statement read to the court Monday by his attorney, Ernst August disputed the hotelier’s account.

Ernst August simply “gave a symbolic left and right slap to the face,” attorney Hans Wolfgang Euler said, reading an hour-long statement from the prince.

Ernst August attended Monday’s session, but made no further comment.