Ellen Caught One Of Her Audience Members Stealing And It's Almost Too Awkward To Watch

SERIOUS CRINGE ALERT.

Posted on June 22, 2017, 00:00 GMT

Stephen LaConte

So in case you missed it, things got REEEEEEEAL AWKWARD on Ellen last week, when Ellen DeGeneres caught one of her audience members stealing, like, a whole lotta stuff from her show's gift shop.

It all started when Ellen put out a big table of swag before the taping, and audience members were told they could each have ONE (1) ITEM for free.

But what the audience DIDN'T know was that Ellen had set up hidden cameras to watch them.

Now, almost everyone was honest. Like this lady — she really wanted a hat AND a T-shirt, but she told her friend she would just buy the hat later.

For the record, Ellen ended up giving her the hat for free. Honesty = rewarded!

But then...there was this lady.

Who DEFINITELY did not notice those hidden cameras.

And, with the help of a friend/accomplice, stole a bunch of stuff.

She circled back to the table THREE SEPARATE TIMES to steal as much as she could without arousing suspicion.

So, naturally, Ellen decided to shame this woman on national television. And, well, things got pretty uncomfortable. Just watch:

Telepictures / Via youtube.com

Telepictures / Via youtube.com

We can all learn a lesson from this very embarrassed lady: A free hat will never be worth a lifetime of humiliation.

And if you're gonna go to an Ellen taping, for crying out loud, you should probably assume there are hidden cameras everywhere. HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN THE SHOW, LADY???