Jim Parsons’ exit from ‘Big Bang Theory’: ‘lot of crying’

He sure went out with a bang. 

A new book about long-running hit sitcom “The Big Bang” theory details how the cast “emotionally crumbled” after star Jim Parsons, 49, announced his exit from the show.  

According to Jessica Radloff’s book, “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series,” when the news broke that Parsons would leave the show after 12 seasons, and it would not continue without him, “there was a lot of crying in the room,” especially from co-star Kaley Cuoco, 36.

“The Big Bang Theory” aired on CBS from 2007 to 2019, with a total of 279 episodes. The plot followed a nerdy group of friends, including  physicists Sheldon Cooper (Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), their aspiring actress neighbor Penny (Cuoco) and their pals: engineer Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar), and neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik). It won several Emmys during its run, and also spawned a prequel spinoff “Young Sheldon” that’s still running on CBS (now in its sixth season and renewed for a seventh). 

According to the book, Parsons decided to depart the series after 12 seasons, but believed that the show might be able to continue without him. Showrunner Steve Molaro and co-creator Chuck Lorre thought it “didn’t seem right” to continue sans Sheldon, and opted to pull the plug on the show. 

Co-star Galecki, 47, said in the book, “I was shocked. We were just blindsided that day. And not necessarily shocked by Jim’s decision, but that he hadn’t had that conversation with his castmates first to prepare us. So yes, it could have been handled better. We’re a family; have a conversation.”

He later said he didn’t disagree with Parsons’ departure, he just “disagreed with how it was managed.”

Galecki added that he was “kind of losing it” over seeing his friends and colleagues react to the news, saying that it was “tearing me to shreds watching Kaley break down and see the tears from everyone.”

Cuoco said that everyone cried for “hours” the day they found out.

“The shock of, ‘Oh my God, what is next?’ was scary….We thought we were going to do another year, so all of the sudden your life kind of flashes before your eyes. I looked at Chuck [Lorre] and said, ‘What are we going to do?’ I couldn’t breathe. It just felt like a death, but also a new horizon for everybody as well.”