I guess that's fair on Sakurai's side. If you take away Ridley's size and intimidating demeanor, Ridley just isn't Ridley. The idea of him being playable in some way would be cool though. Like what if in Smash Bros. 5, there was a mode where while everyone was fighting, an extra person controls stage hazards. For example he could spawn in enemies in the Pyrosphere with a point system that slowly regenerate over time. Less effective enemies and hazards like Zeros would be low points and then the stronger the hazards have more points in costs. At the Top of the Pyrosphere's hazard chart, that person could play as Ridley and fuck everyone's shit up, until he has to fight for one. I for one think this idea would be a nice compromise.

…we'll never hear the end of this, will we?

There will be an angry mob with torches and pitchforks at Sakurai's doorstep come November 21st, won't there? This debate over whether some purple anorexic pencil-necked space lizard should be mapped to some button input on a controller will only get more heated, won't it?