Ellen Caught An Audience Member Stealing And Publicly Shamed Her

There are not many things better than attending The Ellen Show.  Much like Oprah before her, the audience knows that they are going home with some cool stuff.  It is part of the allure of the show, the fear of not being there when Ellen gives the audience something amazing.  While most people are very appreciative of the gifts and are there to be entertained by Ellen and her great guests, some people might be inclined to take advantage of the generosity.  It is human nature that when stuff is in front of you and is free, the thought definitely enters the mind to just give yourself a little extra.  This goes double for those times when no one is watching and it might be pretty easy to get away with it. 

Well it happened the other day when Ellen caught an audience member stealing swag from her show and I have a lot of second hand embarrassment about it. 

Basically, Ellen set up a table of Ellen-branded merchandise and told all audience members that they could take one of the items on display—and then put hidden cameras watching over the table to see what her audience would do. Most were honest about it. One woman wasn't.

This is especially embarrassing to me because I could be that woman! I am the lady in the grocery store who goes back multiple times for free samples. I also have an abiding belief that all branded merchandise should be free (I'm doing you a favor by advertising your show by wearing your name on a teeshirt, Ellen!).  

Basically, I feel that this woman is fine and maybe Ellen is the bigger jerk for publicly calling her out. How's that for a greedy person's hot take?

I mean, come on. "Ellen Jail?" How mortifying! 

[h/t BuzzFeed]