Hollywood starlet Jessica Alba has dropped plans to sue Playboy magazine after its founder Hugh Hefner apologized for putting her photo on the magazine's Sexiest Celebrities issue cover.

The actress, 25, had threatened legal action, complaining that Playboy used an unauthorized cover photo, culled from a movie publicity picture, to make it seem as if she appeared nude or partially nude in the magazine.

But she dropped her claims after receiving a personal letter of apology from magazine founder editor-in-chief Hefner.

In addition to the apology, Playboy has also made donations to two charities supported by Alba, Keep a Child Alive and Until There's a Cure Foundation.

"I appreciate Mr. Hefner's acknowledgment of the distress caused by Playboy's actions, and I'm happy to put this unfortunate event behind me," Alba said in a statement Tuesday. "This was never about money, it was about setting the record straight about something that was done without my knowledge or consent."

Alba's lawyer had earlier said that the racy 54-year-old girlie magazine initially offered to pay Alba to appear on the cover, but that they were flatly turned down.

The magazine then allegedly resorted to a ruse to obtain a promotional photo of a bikini-clad Alba taken on the set of her film "Into the Blue" from the studio that made the movie, Columbia Pictures, he claimed.

Editor: Donald