I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to figure out if there is absolutely no good celebrity gossip so Us Weekly is making the most of the Gosselin drama, or if they really are this obsessed. I won’t argue that it’s certainly not an interesting story. And they’ve got a good cast of characters: Kate is annoying and unlikable (at least in my estimation) and possibly a cheater, while Jon’s definitely a cheater – which I am not going to excuse just because lots of people find Kate annoying/unlikeable. Kate’s personality makes it hard for me to have as much empathy as I probably should, and most of the tabloids seem to have come down hard against her.

Now Kate’s finally getting a little empathy – Us Weekly – who’s had the Gosselins on the cover of their magazine for the last nine weeks straight – says that Jon was cheating on Kate on her birthday, and had a grand old time partying it up without any responsibilities on her day, while she was filming and dealing with the kids.

The new Us Weekly (on newsstands today) reveals shocking new details and exclusive pictures of Jon Gosselin and his mistress, as the father of 8 cheated on Kate’s 34th birthday. On that day, March 28, Jon was on a steamy, booze-filed trip to Park City, Utah, with 23-year-old school teacher Deanna Hummel (the June 1 Jon & Kate Plus 8 episode only showed him helping handicapped children ski as Kate celebrated her birthday alone with the kids on a “surprise” trip to the Ace of Cakes’ kitchen).

Deanna had joined Jon at the annual Pond Skimming race at the Spring Gruv festival in Park City. (Of his trips to Utah, Jon told a local paper: “I have eight kids, two dogs and live in Pennsylvania, and I can still hang here with 15-year-olds.”) “Hey, it’s Kate’s birthday,” Jon told a local friend, the new Us Weekly reports. “I should get her something.” Despite visiting a jewelry store, the pal says Jon never followed through. Instead, he spent the day downing free Budweisers with Deanna at the event.

That night, a source says Jon and Deanna “curled up” at the Downstairs bar (co-owned by actors Chris and Danny Masterson), adding, “It was snuggle-o-matic.” As the night wore on, Jon and his hard-partying pals began “reeking of pot. I know that the kids he’s hanging out with like a little herbal substance.”

Jon and Deanna first met while partying at local bar Chill Lounge near his family’s $1.1 million home in Wernersville, Pa. “Jon was a dirtball,” Elyse Motague, the waitress Jon asked to have send Hummel a shot by way of introduction, tells the new Us Weekly.

[From Us Weekly]

Is the tide starting to turn a bit here? Is Kate’s reputation improving, or is Jon’s getting worse? What is it that’s so grating about Kate? Is it the haircut? The talking about how great the haircut is? Yeah, I know it’s probably also the shrillness, the coldness, the selfishness, the blatant money-grubbing, etc. But really, I think the tabloids are normally anti-Kate because of her hair, and that smug expression that always makes me want to put her in her place.

Honestly I feel badly for her. Not just for the obvious things like a crumbling marriage, but I think she must be miserable inside and trying desperately to keep up the façade. That’s probably the only thing more exhausting than being a parent to eight kids. Even before all this drama, Kate never struck me as a happy person; just as someone who was frantically trying to appear like one.

I think she’s stuck in a situation where things are going to get much, much worse before they get better. It doesn’t seem like the Gosselins have much of a shot of saving their marriage – there’s too much contempt there. We can debate about her reasons ‘till the cows come home, but Kate will obviously still be an active and involved part of her kids’ lives. Somehow I get the feeling Jon’s about ready to check out.

Here’s Kate out running errands with two of her children, Aaden and Hannah, in Reading, Pennsylvania today. Images thanks to INF Photo.