All Of The Drama Between Big Bang Theory Costars Jim Parsons & Kaley Cuoco

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After 12 seasons of joy and friendship, it was announced in 2019 that "The Big Bang Theory" would be coming to an end. The final episode left us with one of the most heartfelt endings to a sitcom in history — compared to the devastating TV endings in shows like "How I Met Your Mother" and "Seinfeld." Heavy tears were shed when Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) addressed his wife Amy (Mayim Bialik), and long-time best friends Raj (Kunal Nayyar), Howard (Simon Helberg), Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), Leonard (Johnny Galecki), and Penny (Kaley Cuoco), during his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. His gratitude for their friendship was an unexpectedly perfect way to wrap up over a decade of watching them on CBS. The cast, however, initially felt differently about ending the sitcom.

The 2022 tell-all book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" by Jessica Radloff revealed that the news of the series' conclusion wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for the actors, especially because of how they found out and why. According to Parsons, who spoke to Radloff for the book, he was the reason the show ended after Season 12. Parsons recalled going into the first day back on set with the idea that he needed to tell the writers about his leaving the show. "I felt like a liar at that table read, because I knew that at the end of these next twenty-four episodes, that was it for me," said Parsons. That day was a point of contention for the cast.

Chuck Lorre, the show's creator, said it was a big shock to him. "When he came by, he just jumped right into it. I certainly didn't see it coming. I said, 'Oh. OK. Well, this is kind of a big conversation. A big conversation that impacts hundreds of people.'" Six of those hundreds of people were ready to jump back into their characters for what they thought would be one of many more seasons to come. So, when they were told this would be the end (because the creators knew they couldn't go on without Sheldon), it was a hard blow — especially for Kaley Cuoco.

Lorre told Jessica Radloff that Cuoco seemed the most upset, crying the biggest tears in the room when he announced the show's ending. "I couldn't breathe. It just felt like a death, but also a new horizon for everybody as well," Cuoco told Radloff for her book. With the news came tension between Jim Parsons and Cuoco. Her emotions were so strong that she requested that the first run-through back on set be canceled. "Kaley could barely make eye contact with Jim during the run-through, but they got through it," writer and executive producer Steve Holland told Radloff.

Susan Winter, relationship expert and bestselling author of Breakup Triage: The Cure for Heartache, told The List that Cuoco and the rest of the cast took it personally when they heard of Parsons' abrupt decision to throw in the towel, which she likened to a romantic split. "In the dating world, this would be called a blindsided breakup," Winter said. "But the manner by which the cast discovered this unexpected news made the rupture even more horrific."

In a 2021 interview with Variety, Kaley Cuoco described how she was stunned beyond belief when she was told she'd have to say goodbye to Penny. "I was so shocked that I was literally like, 'Continue on with what?'" said Cuoco of the moment Parsons said he would not go on playing Sheldon. "Like, I didn't even know what he was talking about. I looked at Chuck: 'Wow. I thought we were — I'm so blown away right now.'"

In the baring account of that day, Johnny Galecki revealed to Jessica Radloff that the cast felt the announcement could have been better managed. "We were just blindsided that day," he said. "And not necessarily shocked by Jim's decision, but that he hadn't had that conversation with his castmates first to prepare us."

Susan Winter agrees with Galecki, explaining — in her expert opinion — that Parsons should have disclosed his leaving to the cast before telling the writers, as he had an objectively deeper friendship with the actors. "It takes real courage to stand in front of friends and deliver news that will be met with confusion, disappointment, and even anger. But that's the cost of real friendship," Winter told us. "Being the bearer of bad news is an unenviable position. But not speaking up and blindsiding people creates deeper fractures."

Considering everything that transpired as a result of Jim Parsons deciding to leave the show, the actor believes he dealt with it the only way he could. "It's never nice to hear that you've done anything that's even accidentally made somebody angry or feel bad," he told Yahoo! Entertainment, referring to the comments Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki made in Jessica Radloff's book. "But I was doing what I had to do, and that was the best way for me to handle it."

What fans may not want to hear is that the cast wasn't as close as we thought they were — at least according to Parsons. "To be honest, we weren't the kind of group that I felt needed to have a group meeting in that way," Parsons said in defense of his decision to tell the writers first. He even thought that there was a chance that the show would go on without him — but, of course, any fan of the show knows that "The Big Bang Theory" is nothing without Sheldon Cooper.

For that reason, tensions were high during that first day back on set after the announcement that this would be their final year. In Jessica Radloff's book, Steve Holland revealed that although Cuoco was still reeling with sadness and a little resentment toward Parsons, she "didn't want it to end ugly."

Years after their sad goodbye to "The Big Bang Theory," it seems like most the residual anger is gone. According to Kaley Cuoco, her feelings about the series ending would've been the same whether she had said goodbye in 2019 or a few years later. "No matter when it was going to end, my heart would have always been broken in two," she wrote in an Instagram post (via People). Fortunately, the script for the series finale brought a sense of closure to her departure.

"When I originally read the script, at the Nobel ceremony — when everyone stands up — I was just so amazed by the brilliant writing," Cuoco told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. "To give everyone their moment and to have Sheldon — who, after all these years, can never apologize — actually apologize to his friends is unbelievable. And to do it in front of people and to give of himself like that was unreal."

As for where she stands with Jim Parsons, it seems like the pair have made amends. Their reunions in the years since "Big Bang" have melted the hearts of every fan who thinks Sheldon and Penny's friendship was the best of them all. In November 2024, Cuoco even surprised Parsons during his Broadway run in the play "Our Town." The "Based On A True Story" actor wrote in an Instagram Story post (via Cinemablend): "Go see @ourtownbroadway! It is beyond!" with a little caption on the bottom, which read: "I surprised him."