It's one of those things that's obviously wrong. It can be disproven from thousands of pictures and people who have met me in person, but it persists. No one knows where the 5'9'' origin comes from, but because Google transmits it, the vast majority of people will blindly take it at face value.
This is how truth works in 2025. It has no connection to reality. It's 100 percent the banality of greatest convenience combined with distribution.