Hush money is an informal term for financial incentives or rewards offered in exchange for not divulging information.

Hush money is different than blackmail, which is a type of threat made by someone who has compromising information about someone else. In the case of hush money the person who does not want the information divulged approaches the person who knows it. For other uses, see Blackmail (disambiguation). ... A threat is an unwanted (deliberate or accidental) event that may result in harm to an asset. ...

Hush money can be offered for both criminal and non-criminal reasons, though the term is used more often in criminal situations, or in a derogatory sense.

Some notable examples:

Michael Jackson was alleged to give some of his accusers hush money in exchange for keeping their accusations private. For other people named Michael Jackson, see Michael Jackson (disambiguation). ...

Richard Nixon aides were convicted of giving hush money to burglars involved in the Watergate scandal. Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... The term Watergate refers to a series of events, spanning from 1972 to 1974, that got its name from burglaries of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington, D.C.. Though then-President Nixon had endured two years of mounting political embarrassments, the...

Some characterize out of court settlements such as those made in the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases as a type of hush money. In law there are two main meanings of the word settlement. ... In the late 20th century, and early 21st, the Roman Catholic Church was confronted with a series of allegations of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests (who are all male) and by members of the various religious orders (both male and female). ...

Hush Money is also the title of:

• a 1921 silent film
• a 1931 comedy/drama featuring Joan Bennett, Myrna Loy, and George Raft
• a 1999 mystery novel by Robert B. Parker.