Charlie’s Angels stars finally reveal honest reaction to Farrah Fawcett leaving show 50 years later

The women behind the iconic Charlie’s Angels are reflecting on their unforgettable run as on-screen spies in honor of its 50th anniversary.

Charlie’s Angels premiered on September 22, 1976, and initially starred Kate Jackson as Sabrina Duncan, Jaclyn Smith as Kelly Garrett, and Farrah Fawcett as Jill Munroe.

Farrah however, left right after season one ended — the series ran for five seasons — after which she was replaced by Cheryl Ladd, who played Kris Munroe, Farrah’s on-screen sister, a San Francisco police academy graduate.

Here’s what to know about Farrah’s departure: from the reason why, the lawsuit that followed, and what her co-stars had to say.

Farrah’s co-stars’ reaction to her departure

Though Charlie’s Angels was an instant success, Farrah was handing in her resignation right before the season one finale aired in 1977. “It was a surprise, definitely shocked us,” her co-star Jaclyn told Maria Shriver on an April 7 appearance on TODAY.

Cheryl, who initially refused the opportunity to replace Farrah, said of the opportunity: “It was a little nerve-racking because I was putting myself out there.”

Kate, already an established actress by the time she landed the role of Sabrina, however always had hope, and maintained: “We never missed a beat, Cheryl came on and we never missed a beat.”

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Farrah’s departure

At the time of Farrah’s resignation from the show, it was widely reported that pay disputes contributed, at least in part, to it. Her salary at the time was $5,000 per episode, and though producer Aaron Spelling later offered her an $8,000 raise in an attempt to make her stay, she still rejected the offer.

Mike Pingel, who has written books about Charlie’s Angels, runs a website dedicated to the series and was for two years Farrah’s assistant, told Women’s World: “The thing about Farrah was that she was a very smart businesswoman; the smartest businesswoman I’ve ever met. Even in ’77 she knew the power of her imagery and what money can come with that, and what she’s worth as far as that’s concerned. They were only offering her 2.5% of the [revenue from] merchandise. At that point, she already had her own poster coming out; she knew she wanted much more than that for her image and her rights. And that’s why she didn’t sign the contract. She kept saying to them, ‘Can we renegotiate this?'”

He added that by the end of the first season: “I think she was, like, ‘I’m pretty good at doing something like this.’ Farrah was wanting to expand her acting. The progression came and at the end of the first season she wanted more as an actress.”

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“People are going to hate me for saying this, but she was done with the ‘cookie-cutter’ Jill Munroe, the beautiful girl that episode after episode did the same thing. Which was, admittedly, the charm of the episodes,” he further shared.

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The legal dispute that followed

Though all the Angels were given five-year contracts, Farrah reportedly never formally signed her own, though business partners Leonard Goldberg and Aaron still tried to enforce it, claiming she was in breach of contract.

After some back and forth, it was ultimately settled out of court, with Farrah signing a contract to appear as a guest star in following seasons; she appeared in three episodes in season three and a final three episodes in season four.