The hip hop mogul and Bad Boy honcho was photographed Saturday outside of his Star Island mansion in Miami ... where he was dressed casually and sipping on a beverage of some sort as he plopped down next to what appears to be his longtime chief of staff.

She was in comfy clothes too, and the two of them chatted for a bit in what looked like a pretty serious conversation. Diddy even buried his face in his hands at one point.

Eventually, he got up and went back inside ... but yeah, he certainly appears solemn.

Makes sense, considering everything that's been going on over the past 72 hours or so -- namely, him being accused of horrendous things by his ex in court ... all of which he's vehemently denied. Just as quickly as she filed, they both reached a settlement.

While Diddy's attorney was adamant in saying that his client settling did NOT mean he was admitting wrongdoing -- people online have been chatting about this nonstop regardless ... and, by and large, public sentiment seems to be mostly against Puff in the aftermath.

Time will tell how Cassie's claims end up affecting his life -- fact is, he's got a lot of business ventures he's involved in ... not to mention charitable endeavors he heads up quite often.

Of course, Diddy still dabbles in music as well ... and is fresh off an album release earlier this year. He also tends to hit the town a lot for parties and get-togethers, but something tells us he might be keeping things on the DL for a while.