Having now examined the preceding thread, I think this one has been running on a misinterpretation.
What DrDeth actually said was that an intelligent cultural observer would know Neil Gaiman–not necessarily that most people would. The post in question didn’t use the word “pop” at all, and the first mention of Gaiman in the thread is contrasting him with Larry the Cable Guy in the context of talking about correlation between tastes and intellect–no mention of relative celebrity status.
The first mention of “pop culture” is from Boyo Jim, who at that moment doesn’t know who Gaiman is at all. Shot From Guns seizes that remark, backdates the “pop” part of it into DrDeth’s earlier remark, and assumes a question of popularity where there really wasn’t one. Nobody has claimed that Gaiman is as famous as Gaga, or Larry, or Octomom. The only assertion is that intelligent, culturally-conversant people ought to have a clue who he is. Expanding upon that assertion,
“Rather well known” here is the first suggestion of Gaiman’s degree of fame, and it’s hardly hyperbolic.
We might debate which names should be on the list, but the basic notion–that smart and literate people ought to recognize certain names–seems unremarkable to me.