I mean it was an example I chose because the name recognition in HN. I would doubt Knuth would publish garbage. Then again, how would you know? If you've never been in academia it's understandable to think that way. But if you have, you realize the immense pressure, self-doubt, and scrutiny you'd have even making a bold, well researched, attempt to prove someone like knuth wrong even if it was obvious he was. I recall several instances in mathematics where this happened and it bordered on starting a war between mathematicians.

Or he would never publish something "garbage" because people are convinced by his reputation that it will not be garbage.

Emperor's new clothes, while the rest need to be whiter than white and all that. These things happen because people are blinded by titles in a complex world with complex people.

Your response perfectly illustrates the point OP was making

Even great mathematicians try to put out garbage unaware of their senility in their final years. I've seen it personally, and the reviewer made contact with a friend of the author, who volunteered to be a pre-filter to avoid future embarrassment

The point is that a famous name gives an edge in peer review to a (potentially mediocre) paper written primarily by somebody else with the famous name appended.