I don't see scrutinizing apparently fictional "statistics" as an exercised in pedantry in the slightest. People who can't be bothered to as you say, find or gen

I don't see scrutinizing apparently fictional "statistics" as an exercised in pedantry in the slightest. People who can't be bothered to as you say, find or generate good data and are content with bad data are not people you should trust with money, or important tasks. From a random celebrity like Kutcher, it's understandable and expected at least; if someone expects him to be rigorous they might be new to the planet. News outlets and other users of that stat by contrast, have much more to answer for.