Oliver James was looking for a place to read and make a video for his popular TikTok channel.

What happened next was broadcast live to thousands of people around the world, as the 35-year-old James was removed from The Breakers Palm Beach resort, where he was booked for three nights as part of his participation in the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens' Literacy Day on Tuesday. The event was being held in partnership with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

The incident has spurred calls from James' fans for an apology from The Breakers, and a larger discussion about racial profiling on the island of Palm Beach.

More:TikTok star Oliver James asked to leave Breakers Palm Beach; here for Barbara Bush Foundation

TikTok star Oliver James taught himself how to read on the social video platform - plans to read 100 books this year

James, who is Black, has built a following of more than 270,000 people on his @oliverspeaks1 TikTok account, where he shares his experience of teaching himself how to read. He has spoken frequently about the challenges he faced growing up with learning disabilities, then spending time in a federal prison in his 20s. After his release, James was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

He often records videos of himself reading, sometimes while exercising or reading aloud on TikTok live. He plans to read 100 books this year.

James said his goal was to add to his tally Monday morning after his first night at The Breakers, as he looked for a quiet place to set up his tripod to record some video. In his hand he held his current book: "101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think," by Brianna Wiest.

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Within minutes, he was approached by Breakers staff. And James said he instinctively hit the button to go live on TikTok.

The confrontation led to James being removed from Breakers property by Palm Beach police, who took him to the Starbucks on Worth Avenue until the Barbara Bush Foundation could reserve a room for him in another hotel.

The Breakers Palm Beach on Oliver James filming his TikTok series

In a statement, The Breakers Palm Beach noted its policy of not allowing guests to disrupt the experience of others.

"In this case, a guest was filming on a tripod in a public space and speaking loudly, disturbing other guests," The Breakers said. "The Breakers’ security politely requested the guest identify himself, lower his volume, and refrain from use of the tripod. The guest refused to comply. As a result, the guest was asked to leave. Acceptable standards of conduct apply equally to everyone, and we unequivocally deny any allegation of discrimination."

James was first told that he could not use his tripod — a longstanding Breakers policy — but the employee also said that someone had complained that James was making a lot of noise on the pool deck. In the live video shot of the incident, James looked around, perplexed, after he was told that someone complained about him making noise on the pool deck. He was standing on one of the Breakers' grassy lawns.

"I understand, I wasn't allowed to use a tripod, that's fine," he told the Palm Beach Daily News, adding, "But then he said I was making a disturbance at the pool deck. That's what the call was. But this is the problem: When I realized you come straight to me instead of to the pool, it was never about the pool."

Reflecting on the incident Tuesday morning at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens as he awaited the arrival of nearly 250 youngsters eager to hear him read, James said he thinks The Breakers staff didn't think he was supposed to be on the property when they first approached him.

"I was trying to tell them, like, I'm just filming," he said. "Can I be left alone? But that's when he said, you're not allowed to have tripods."

James moved to put the tripod away and hold his phone instead. The Breakers staff member did not tell James to turn off his phone or stop recording, the video showed.

Within minutes, Palm Beach police officers responded to the scene. The police department typically has a car at or near The Breakers, so when James said he felt like it was only about two minutes, a call record provided by Palm Beach police shows that is accurate.

The officers explained to James that he was being asked to leave the property. They walked with him to his room, helped him gather his things and drove him to Starbucks.

"They came back twice," James said, who noted that someone who saw the incident on TikTok also met him at the café to check on him. "They bought me coffee, too, and sat with me. And then they called the security at The Breakers to have a sit-down with me too, because they thought it was wrong."

James said he had not spoken with anyone from The Breakers as of Tuesday morning, but he would be open to a discussion and receiving an apology.

In a video posted to his TikTok account — a video that has been viewed more than 116,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon — James begins by saying he was removed from The Breakers, then praises the Palm Beach Police Department for their professionalism and help.

"I didn't say one bad thing about them," James told the Daily News Tuesday morning. "They did an amazing job. They did their job. Whoever trained them, they were training them right. They didn't come and discriminate against me."

Andrew Roberts, president and CEO of the Barbara Bush Foundation, told the Daily News he was on a plane to West Palm Beach when everything happened Monday morning.

"When they found out, everything was fixed," James said of the foundation's response.

Standing next to James as they waited for the first group of children to enter the Norton House at the Sculpture Gardens on the rainy Tuesday morning, Roberts said it was a shame the incident happened considering the work James was in town to do.

"It's about the kids," Roberts said. "That's it. It's a great event here. We want to make sure this is really about literacy, and the kids, and making sure they get an opportunity to have a great day here and learn."

Once the children entered the room, James was ready to go. While he has read to individual classes before, Tuesday was his first time engaging with so many children during one event, he said.

"It's exciting," he said. "Talking to a bunch of kids, feeling like you're the educator." He laughed. "They're like, 'Who are you?' I'm like, 'I'm a special person who's teaching himself how to read. I'm gonna teach you, too.'"

James and the Barbara Bush Foundation connected first through social media and then through email. He said he thinks it can be difficult to coordinate with him because he still struggles to read at times, and needs a lot of help with logistics.

Roberts balked. "He's being very modest with what he's done on TikTok," he said of James. "Listen, we're focused on both adult and children's literacy as an organization. And I'll tell you, the adult literacy thing is tough, because there's a huge stigma around adults who struggle with reading.

"What he did on TikTok was unbelievably brave," said Roberts, who noted that the foundation recently presented James with the 2023 Barbara Bush National Literacy Honors Award, which he received alongside the American Library Association during an October event in Washington, D.C.

"Making people realize that you're not the only one going through this is unbelievably powerful," Roberts said, noting that James reaches a new audience for the foundation with his following on TikTok. "If you work at it, you can change your life. Oliver did that. And he did that by himself."

James beamed as the first group of children entered the room, sitting before him. He read each group of students "I Am Every Good Thing," by Derrick Barnes. Each child left with their own copy of the book.

Someone on TikTok recommended the book to him, James said. "This is a beautiful book with someone like me on the cover," he said. "It spoke to me."

The book's powerful message of self-love was new to James, who said he had never thought to repeat positive affirmations to himself. "I didn't know to treat myself that way," he said.

James told each class that he is learning to read, just like each of the kindergarten-through-third-grade students who visited the gardens Tuesday. As he does in his TikTok videos, James moved continuously throughout each reading, shifting from sitting, to standing, to at one point doing a handstand while he read, much to the delight of a class from Gove Elementary School in Belle Glade.

"I didn't like reading. I couldn't read at all," James told the students. They cheered him on as he read, with some clapping and providing words of encouragement.

James, a native of Bethlehem, Pa., who lives in Costa Mesa, Calif., said his reaction to the events Monday morning are a testament to how much he has grown since he started his journey to learn how to read.

"Reading things like 'Charlotte's Web,' that was what helped me be able to cope with a lot of things," he said. "Even right now. There was no way for me to be able to do what I do right now without reading. Because of those books, I was able to control my emotions."

Reading is magic — magic that has helped him grow as a person, he said. "Yesterday's incident was a reflection of reading," James said. "That was me exercising all the growth I've gotten from the past year."

He credits his reading with helping him to stay calmer than he would have just a few years ago. And he said he doesn't want anyone at The Breakers to get in trouble or lose their job, something some of his followers have called for.

"I just wanted them to show me the same respect they show anyone else," he said.

Kristina Webb is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.