Diddy Legally Could Not Say Cassie's Name in Video Apology

There are lots of reasons to drag Diddy over his video apology -- the public outrage is still fresh over what he did to Cassie -- but when it comes to him not saying her name in the mea culpa ... there's a legal reason he couldn't.

As you know, Diddy and Cassie reached a settlement one day after she filed her sexual assault lawsuit against him in November -- and sources familiar with the agreement tell TMZ ... it includes a very strict NDA, which prevents both of them from speaking about each other in public.

You'll notice -- since the release of the 2016 beating video -- you have not seen or heard Cassie trashing Diddy, as you'd expect.

We're told Diddy's attorneys very closely reviewed his video apology before it was posted for a couple of reasons. First, they needed to make sure it was in compliance with the NDA ... meaning, absolutely no mention of Cassie by name -- even though, we're told Diddy wanted to say it.

Secondly, Cassie is just the tip of the legal iceberg Diddy is facing. While he's settled her lawsuit, he still has to deal with 3 other suits that include some of the same allegations Cassie brought ... including human and sex trafficking.

For that reason, our sources say Diddy's legal team is on edge about him making any public statements -- as long as there's pending litigation, his own words could potentially be used against him in court.