Cake PHP - problem with auth component

Hello,

My problem is that a variabile is not past from the controller to the view when the user is not logged in, but it is viewable when the user is logged in. My controller method looks like this:

function publicprofile( $username ) {
        $user = $this->Users->find('first', array('conditions' => array('username' => $username)));
        $this->set('user', $user['Users']);
    }

The method is in the allowed list and everything works, just that $user is not set.

Thanks