Blanchett faces Oscars pressure over Allen

THE molestation allegations against Woody Allen have some calling for Cate Blanchett to make a stand at the Oscars if she wins the best actress award.

cate blanchett

THE question is not: Will Cate Blanchett win the Oscar?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has probably already engraved the Australian's name on the best actress Oscar for her performance in Blue Jasmine.

One British bookmaker has Blanchett at the extreme favourite odds of 1/50, while the nearest competition is Sandra Bullock, for Gravity, at the outsider odds of 14/1.

The question on the lips of many in Hollywood is: Will Blanchett mention or diss Blue Jasmine director Woody Allen in her acceptance speech?

The always dignified Blanchett has been sucked into the more than 20-year-old accusations that Allen abused his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow when she was a child.

Blanchett praised Allen on stage after winning the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild trophies, but many are hoping she fails to mention him on the Oscar stage or calls him out on the allegations.

One US media commentator has suggested Blanchett should refuse to accept the Oscar.

"If she mentions him, people will be unhappy," Howard Bragman, founder of Hollywood public relations firm 15 Minutes, told slate.com.

"If she doesn't mention him, others will deem her ungrateful."

Allen has never been prosecuted for the allegation and has denied any wrongdoing, but as Allen and Blanchett have ridden the success of Blue Jasmine through Hollywood's award season the allegations, through public comments from Dylan, her brother Ronan and Allen's former partner Mia Farrow, plagued them.

"Missed the Woody Allen tribute - did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age seven before or after Annie Hall?" Ronan tweeted after Allen received the Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes.

Dylan, in a letter published in the New York Times, called Blanchett, a mother of three young boys, out.

"What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett?" Dylan wrote.

Blanchett has managed to largely avoid the controversy at numerous award red carpets and while promoting her new film, Monuments Men, offering responses such as, "It's been a long and painful situation for the family, and I hope they find some resolution and peace".

We'll have to wait until Monday AEDT to see what Blanchett will do.