As others have touched on, I think pop Buddhism, the sort typically espoused by celebrities, is a strawman.

My knowledgeable Buddhist friends, in our discussions about Buddhism, frequently mention that Gautama relayed a dualistic or paradoxical picture of the nature of reality. On this view, there is a self in one sense, and no-self in another sense.

Anyone who reduces this nuanced concept to a simplistic pronouncement is probably just sewing confusion.

Certainly Buddhism is wrong about some things, but I think Gautama was definitely on to something when it comes to the tenuous nature of the self-concept.