So, unlike most younger morons who went to college, I'm aware that men gain greater access to sex once they gain wealth and status. Sexual appeal is different on the basis of sex. A lot of men spent their teens and twenties striking out with women. Then, once those men are vaulted into places of influence, they're, in the words of Stan Marsh, "Dripping in bitches."
It's hard for men to resist the new opportunities. Trevor Bauer's decision to hook up with a woman who he barely knew destroyed his career and cost him millions of dollars even though the woman's rape accusations made no sense to begin with, and Bauer has since been proven innocent. I mean, he wasn't just found not guilty due to lack of evidence, it was proven that the woman lied to get his money.
I know it's hard, rich guys, but, you've gotta keep it in your pants.
On the point of paying the accuser to avoid a lawsuit -- that's the smart decision.
People even view the choice of a defendant to settle a lawsuit rather than fight it as an admission of wrongdoing and/or liability. It's not. The way our civil courts work, a plaintiff can find a lawyer who won't get paid unless you win on a billboard. Defendants have to pay for a lawyer. The burden of proof is also lower in civil cases. A jury just has to decide that you're liable on a "more likely than not" basis.
We should really think of these civil agreements in a similar way that we look at plea deals in criminal courts. A lot of innocent people plead guilty because...well...a lot of unscrupulous prosecutors bring baseless charges. Even if you're completely innocent, a jury can get it wrong. Maybe the prosecutor decides that he or she doesn't have a case; so, the prosecutor offers a plea deal that knocks your potential prison time down from forty years to five years. Of course you take that, even if you're innocent.
It's one of the most common things in the world for people and organizations to try to handle accusations outside of court, regardless of how baseless the accusations are.