There are only a few ways this could have played out.
1) He truly didn't know anything about it or the origins behind the "noose".

2) If he didn't know then someone on his team used him for publicity gain. Sometimes bad publicity isn't always so bad. I mean Nascar got major attention for a few days.

3) He was in on it. Same as Jussie Smollet. Remember the key statements that kept stating over and over. "Bubba did not see this noose". This statement is reiterated as they knew it likely would come back as false and Bubba should not be the main target as Jussie was.