Well, I care. So do a lot of other people who are interested in history, art, and the development of our Western culture. It's worthwhile to know what Michelangelo achieved.
What are they gonna do: dig up Michaelangelo and sue him?
That's not the point. The point is to better understand the life and work of one of the greatest artists our species has ever produced.
Come on. Don't the academics have anything better to do?
No. That's what academics do. And studying art, expanding our knowledge of art and its history, is not a bad thing to do with one's life. I think that what this scholar has done is valuable.
I think what this "scholar" has done is shameless self-promotion and whose hypothesis will never be proven to everyones satisfaction.